Arabian Nights
by charmony
Summary: NPH 18 - A shocking near-miss rocks everyone to the core and throws the team into chaos as they return to work months before they are meant to as they become pivotal in solving a case that spans not only the years, but the States themselves.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everyone! So excited that I am able to press on with my writing and bring you the first part of my next chaptered piece so soon after finishing the other one. And best of all, I had fun writing this so I think I am truly back. **

**You'll note the size of this offering isn't at my usual level but it is simply me setting the scene. I am hoping to have the first 'proper' chapter out by the end of tomorrow.**

**My reviewers definitely deserve all the kudos I have to give. I honestly didn't think anyone would still be waiting for me after the amount of time I was away and yet there you all were, waiting to read what I had to offer. I doubt any of you has any idea how much your wonderful words truly meant to me because there aren't words enough to adequately thank you all. Many, MANY thanks go out to HGRHfan35, greengirl82, HPforever-after and Hazmatt, who also gets additional thanks for picking up on something in Coming Home that I hadn't explained all that well. (You will be happy to note that I have since re-worded the paragraph specifically referring to Reid's relationship with Austin and the piece has been re-posted with the changes)**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**PLEASE NOTE: This is NPH 18. If you aren't already following this series, I recommend that you make your way to my author profile page and start with NPH 1, as some or all of this will not make sense otherwise.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 1

"Is she alive?"

"Just barely, I think. I had to go further with her then I did with any of the others. She was...well let's just say she was _resistant_ to the idea of change."

"But she'll pull through and take her place?"

"Oh yes; she understands what's required of her. I made sure of that before I left to get you."

"Good. We don't need another rogue in the house stirring up the others."

"I hear you sir and I made sure of that."

"Good. Let's go check out my newest pretty."

New Section

The pretty patterns in the ceiling were the only thing keeping her from noticing her pain...though maybe if the pain got through her senses it would put her out cold like it did in books and in the movies...

New Section

"Another letter Phil. How many does this make now?"

Phillip De Tritt sighed tiredly. "This letter is unlucky number 66 and that is just from the surrounding three states. One of the letters arrived with a note suggesting we check out Idaho because he vaguely recalls hearing of a similar letter earlier in the year before we started putting everything together. Which means there are probably loads more we don't know about."

Cassie Alongee sighed as well. "Well shit. Do you know, I'm pretty certain I used to find this job fascinating and helpful to society; now I'm just tired and I'm pretty certain we barely dent _anything_ let alone the burden these creeps place on our world."

"I think you'll find we're all more tired than usual considering the scope of our current one and only case. Despite that exhaustion though, we should continue to press on without ceasing. Sixty-six missing women in four, possibly five, states is a lot of women and we _definitely_ owe it to all of the families to keep looking."

The six people in the room nodded agreement to Alex Jackson's statement and doggedly returned to the tasks they had been assigned. They were certain that it was a losing battle, but that wouldn't stop them from pressing on forward no matter what.

New Section

"Hey boss; you have a minute?"

"A very _short_ minute Teddy."

"Right, right. Uh short, okay. I can do short."

"You're running out of time as we speak."

"Right, sorry. Uh, one of the FBI branches out of California is asking about the weird letter we received right after Michelle de Lucca went missing at the start of the year. They want to know if they can either have the original or else a decent copy of it. Seems it may be linked to some other letters they've got and a case they're working on right now."

"So send them a copy of the letter. _Not_ the original mind; make sure you double-check it before you send it on; we can't be losing valuable evidence in what is still an open case like we did last time."

"Right, okay. Um, should I send on copies of the other 13 letters we have as well since they all appear to be linked?"

"Might as well if they're working on something bigger than just us. Doesn't hurt to curry a little favour every now and then with the big leagues by going above and beyond what they've asked for."

"Great. Thanks boss."

New Section

"What are you looking at with such despair Phil?"

Phil looked at Alex and wondered how his boss always managed to stay positive in the midst of often overwhelming odds. He'd been heading up the division of the California branch of the FBI that handled the larger and more complicated cases for more years than any one person should be in such a demanding and often tragic environment; far longer than all the rest of them combined, it seemed on some very long days. With an internal sigh, he wondered if the man would be willing to share that 'how' with him and as he caught sight of the package on the table in front of him again, he resolved to ask him very, _very_ soon.

"Boise, Idaho _had_ received a letter and they sent us a copy as I requested. The despair comes from the other 13 letters they sent along with a note explaining that they had received these letters in conjunction with an abduction around the state once a year, every year for the last 11."

"And the other two letters?"

"Turns out the woman taken at the start of the year was kidnapped along with her two best friends. _Three_ women taken all at once and not a single witness to the abduction. Then their three families receive the letters right on schedule telling them they'd never get them back and not to worry because the women were going to be taken care of for the rest of their lives by someone who would truly appreciate how exquisite they are. So we have another fourteen women to add to our list of the missing and the whole thing stinks like cow crap."

"Okay, so we are going back another three years on what we already thought we had and we have more missing women, which is something we expected, just not in this scope. Not the best news I've heard today but not entirely impossible to deal with. So why do I think you aren't done with the bad news?"

"The guy who sent me these has a cousin in another police force who also mentioned similar letters. He is contacting him to get him to send on what he has to us."

"Oregon, Utah or New Mexico?"

"Geogia."

"Georgia! But that's...that's..."

"Exactly."

"Fuck."

"_Exactly_."

End-

**A/N: I'll leave it there to whet your appetite for more and hopefully have chapter two out on time as promised.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker (and hopefully it'll help keep the block away too). **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I am now refusing to self-impose time limits at the start or end of my chapters. My available time is too erratic and I'm just not getting as much done as I would like. I will definitely still apologise though for the amount of time it's taking to get each chapter out, but never fear; I will keep plugging away at it until it is done, even if I only get out a sentence at a time.**

**But you reviewers continue to amaze and encourage me with your patience and your wonderful words. Thanks this chapter go out to wtiger5, HGRHfan35, HPforever-after, miaa29, greengirl82 and Hazmatt. I would not still be doing this if you all weren't reviewing and letting me know you still like where I'm going with all of this so please don't stop reviewing; you all mean more to me than I can ever put into words. **

**Additional thanks to Hazmatt as well, for picking up on several points that may cause confusion down the track with this particular story. As such, I have revised the prologue and reposted it and I suggest re-reading it briefly as several names have changed.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 2

"I can't believe you girls are honestly going to go for a run in weather like this."

Emily rolled her eyes at her friends and turned with a sweet smile to her husband. "You know how I've been feeling out of sorts in the last week and really lethargic? Well I'm hoping this run will sort out the kinks in my system and get my motor revving, which will in turn benefit you. And please, it's just cold; no big deal."

He frowned, obviously going over her words to try to find the logic. Clearly coming up blank, he tipped his head slightly to the side as he studied her.

"Do you want me to elaborate for you?" Austin asked, her voice clearly showing her growing struggle to contain her amusement.

Emily smiled wryly. "Sure hon, you go right ahead and clue in my husband as to why getting my motor revved might benefit him."

Austin walked up to him, went up on tiptoe and whispered in his ear. As she was backing away from him, his face suddenly went beet-red and he excused himself, nearly running into Reid's wheelchair as he exited the main hall.

"What's up with Hotch?"

Austin smiled suggestively at her husband. "We're going for a run to get our motor's revving while you guys hang out."

"Really? You think we could try something out later?" He looked keenly interested in this idea as he studied his healing leg and wheelchair and more than just a little turned on by the thought. Emily lost it laughing and when the other girls joined in, it just fuelled the hilarity of the moment.

"Oh, that was priceless. Thank you for that Reid; I really needed that."

"What did I do?"

Derek, standing off to the side with Ben in his arms, chuckled in amusement. "You are boy-genius and as such, you have a tendency to miss sexual cues and innuendo that the rest of us don't even have to think about. You _are_ getting better under Austin's expert tutelage but you still have a ways to go yet. Yet you picked up on what the girls are up to faster than Hotch did; Austin had to clue him in to what was going on."

Reid grinned in amusement. "Okay, that _is_ really funny. And actually explains a lot."

As the group continued to joke around her, Emily frowned as a thought suddenly registered in what she considered her urgent 'Wife-box; Must follow up IMMEDIATELY!' compartment. Excusing herself softly, she followed her husband's trail and found him standing outside, his back to the house and the tension in his entire body enough that she was surprised he was still standing in the brisk wind that was occasionally whipping up around him.

She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist as she buried her face briefly between his shoulder blades before turning her head to the side and demanding gently, "Talk to me."

She thought for several long minutes that he wasn't going to, but finally he said softly, "I think something is still wrong with me."

She shifted around him as she ordered her brain to shut up and stay calm. "What makes you think that?"

He fell silent a second time and she could tell he was genuinely worried and baffled by whatever he thought the issue might be. Her concern sky-rocketed but she stayed outwardly calm as she lifted her arms to wrap around his neck, her fingers gently stroking the hair at his nape in a comforting gesture as she waited for him to bring to light what was concerning him.

"You saw what happened just now?" Once she nodded her confirmation, he took a deep breath and blurted out in a rush, "It's not the first time something like that's happened since the crash."

"Something like what?"

Frustration chased across his face as he struggled to put into words what he'd only just recently begun to think about all the time.

"Before the plane crash, you talking about revving your motor would have immediately had me thinking about at _least_ a dozen different ways of seducing you when you were ready. But when you said it earlier, I just couldn't grab on to what you meant, even though I thought I should know what you were getting at. The second Austin explained it, it was like it was right there all along, but it _hadn't_ been there a second ago."

"I see. When else has something like this happened?"

"A couple of times at my psych sessions and once when I met with Strauss. Let me tell you that she was _more_ than just alarmed at what I missed and with her, I couldn't even put it into words because it was the first time it had happened. I had to fob her off and I don't think she really believed me either."

"And what did Dr Burke have to say?"

"He said it was somewhat normal to forget things now and then and particularly with the multiple traumas I'd been through in the last six months. He said I should stop worrying about it and just let the healing happen naturally without worrying it to death."

She watched him realise what he'd just said with a small smile and he shook his head in wonder. "Do you know, I only just remembered what he said when you asked just now. Which _does_ make me worry a little, but he's right too. My doctor's say my scans are all showing my head has healed completely and I guess I just need to continue to be patient as I regain my former mental health. It's just hard."

She nodded her understanding and watched the relief on his face grow as he realised he wasn't in this on his own now that he'd shared his fears.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?"

He sighed and shifted to rest his forehead against hers as he hugged her. "I just don't like burdening you with everything. I have this strange fear that you might break like I did and I definitely don't want that to happen to you."

"Beloved heart, I'm not as fragile as you." She grinned as he pushed her gently with a mock annoyed look on his face before they settled back into place. "I can't help make things better if I don't know what's going on around me. Unfortunately though, I'm not a mind-reader so I count on those around me to keep me updated; if you don't talk to me, I don't know. And you are _never_ to call yourself a burden in my hearing ever again, let alone when I'm not around. Understood? I am your _wife_, your partner and as such we share this life together. This means you tell me when something's bothering you and we work _together_ to sort it out. Alright?"

He nodded and closed his eyes. "I know the girls are waiting for you for your run and I have to admit to being turned on at the thought of you with your motor revved, particularly after this last week of almost half-hearted couplings. Go run now and we'll talk some more this evening."

"Are you sure we won't be completely distracted from having that conversation?"

He smiled slightly. "I'm sure we _will_ be plenty distracted, but not to the point where the conversation won't come back up again. I've been a little…afraid, I guess if I'm brutally honest, but now that I've said something and I know you're going to bat in my corner, I'm finding courage enough to push through my fear and ask you to help me. And as you so rightly just pointed out, that's part of the wife-description so I've got no excuses _not_ to explain the whole thing to you. I'm only sorry it took me so long to speak up about it."

She shifted her hands to cup his face and lost herself for a few moments in his eyes. "We all make mistakes Aaron; it's part of what makes us human. It _doesn't_ change how very much I love and adore you. And on that note, I'm going to collect my girls and go for a run so I can _show_ you how very much I love and adore you."

After kissing her thoroughly, he grinned and tweaked her nose. "Sounds like an amazing plan. How long do we need to watch the kids for?"

She linked arms with him as they headed back inside the house. "Maybe about an hour? Then there are Kelly, Penelope and JJ who aren't running at all for health reasons. Only Jordan, Teresa and I will be really pushing the pace. Carrie and Austin will probably jog or powerwalk more than run. We'll walk to the park near Jack's school and those of us who are running will run laps on the path while the rest walk and then we'll just walk back."

"So you'll rev your motor and then cool it down with some gossip on the way back. How does that benefit me?"

She shot him a flat look as they re-joined the group and he just smiled calmly at her. His renewed calm quieted the voices screaming in her head to fix him now before anything went really wrong. If he was calm, she could be calm and if he wanted to be playful, she'd run until the side of her that thought he was hot with a capital H-O-T came to the front and refused to let go until she was dead from exhaustion in his arms.

"Right ladies, my husband thinks he's funny so we should go now while it's still safe to do so. Let's head out to warm up with a brisk walk to the park and we can continue talking while we walk."

She ushered the chattering bunch of women out the door, bade the guys to have fun and behave and closed the door firmly behind her as she hurried to catch up with the group already powering their way up the drive.

New Section

"Mummy, why's she so sad? Doesn't she know she'll be treated like a queen now?"

"No sweetheart, she doesn't know this yet. But she'll learn this shortly and until then, the best thing you can do is be her friend. And soon she'll have a few more friends of her own and that will also help."

"That's good mummy. I can do that."

"Of that I had no doubt. No doubt at all."

New Section

"Hey Phil. Have you heard back from Georgia yet about the letters they may have?"

Phil shot a look filled with wry amusement at his boss and raised an eyebrow. "By the time we have this case solved, you'll be attending my funeral after I drowned in letters."

Alex frowned and pulled up a chair. "Exactly how many letters did Georgia have to send over?"

"Only three that the head office was aware of, but they are checking other avenues and will get back to us. My amusement comes from the newfound discovery that _everyone_ has a brother, sister, cousin or friend in another state who _may_ have had a similar case."

"Any hits from these other people."

"About a dozen from another five states. The director was here while you were at lunch and he's talking about getting you some more man-power because this case just keeps getting bigger and bigger and he's worried something will slip through our notice because there aren't enough resources working on this."

"Any particular reason he is _that_ concerned of our outcome on this case with our track record in the past being as spotless as it is?"

Phil stopped slouching in his chair and looked around what they called their 'War Room'. The place was deserted except for them. Alex also looked around before leaning in to hear what Phil was saying in a low tone that wouldn't travel.

"He didn't say anything specific mind, but he hinted that someone in a position of a lot of power _may_ have lost someone in _very_ similar circumstances a few years ago. He's doing some checking and he'll get back to us."

"Oh great. So we may be dealing with politics sometime in the near future."

"I'm afraid so boss."

He sighed. "What I wouldn't give to have Emily back in moments like these. She may have hated the politics, but she was always the most diplomatic one of the lot of us and the only one to really understand how that whole thing worked. I always just manage to rub people the wrong way."

"Not to mention she was _incredibly_ easy on the eyes and easily the most adaptive person you will ever meet."

Alex nodded as his mind slipped back through the years to a time when life seemed perfect and he was on the verge of gaining everything he'd ever wanted.

"Do you know where she is now?" Phil asked, breaking into his reverie.

He started slightly and shrugged. "Somewhere in Virginia, I think. To be honest, I'm not too sure; after she broke my heart and shifted away, I lost interest in keeping track of her and by the time I went looking for her, she'd vanished into the system somewhere. She probably moved on or got married or something." He shrugged again and got to his feet. "Do you need any help analysing these new letters?"

Phil mentally filed away a note to pass on to the guys that the 'Emily' topic was still a slightly touchy one with the boss and thought about the question. "Actually, if you can spare someone, that would be great, but I _am_ the only one linguistically capable of reading the letters so unless someone on the team has been keeping secrets…"

Alex chuckled. "Good point. I'll see if one of the other teams can spare someone for a day to help you out."

"Excellent. Thanks boss."

New Section

"I can't choose. They're all so beautiful. Do I have to choose?"

"Narrow your choice if you can. Beyond that, I can't make any promises."

He sighed heavily. "I'll try, but they all have qualities I want in a wife. What if I can't choose?"

"Then we'll choose for you and you'll just have to trust that we know best."

End-

**A/N: I did mean to have this out last night but left my usb at work so that was a no go. Hope it was worth the wait though. I understand it may be a little slow, but I am laying foundations at the moment so please bear with me. The pace _will_ pick up in a chapter or two.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello everyone. I was reminded by one of my wonderful reviewers that Emily spent a lot of her time with the FBI in the Midwest before she joined the BAU. Unfortunately though, I had already planned out my story and so with much gratefulness that I have a freedom in my writing that allows me to change things to suit my needs with disclaimers attached, I have decided to change that for the purposes of this story. Emily's FBI career prior to the BAU has now been spent in LA, with the team I have started to flesh out in the previous chapters of this piece. I will get more into this as I go and there will be a lot of background to come because of the nature of this piece. I know I like to keep things close to how the show portrays it if you take out the storyline after 100, but in this I am changing the rules and I apologise to anyone who may not like this change. I doubt after this piece it will matter all that much because I doubt it will come up again, but I apologise if it interferes with your enjoyment here and now. It isn't my intention at all to make any of my pieces hard to read in any way.**

**My reviewers continue to warm me with their wonderful words of encourage. Thanks in abundance to miaa29, greengirl82, HGRHfan35, Hazmatt and HPforever-after; you guys truly do make my day/s when I open up my email and see that I've received a review, or two or three. **

**Additional thanks to greengirl82 for alerting me to the early issue of A/N's spacing; I promise I will be keeping a close eye on the coming chapters. Also thanks to Hazmatt for the pickup about Emily's time in the Midwest; it's definitely changed for a reason and I hope the changes will still be liked.**

**I would also like to thank anyone who has alerted to me as an author or to any of my stories and to this one in particular. Please feel free to let me know what you think, even if it's just a couple of words. It really only takes a minute or two and it CAN be down from a mobile as I have happily discovered recently and I really do love to know what you think. (I'm also a bit of a hussy, if you hadn't already figured that out, wanting the praise that comes with reviews ;)**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 3

Emily caught up to her friends just outside the gate and fell into step with JJ. The younger blonde smiled at her and linked arms.

"What are we talking about today?" Jordan asked from the front of the group as she walked backwards.

Austin turned to walk backwards beside her and replied, "I don't know about anyone else, but I'm really keen to know if everything is alright with Aaron. He looked really pale under the blush when he rushed out before we left."

Emily sighed. "I can't really go into details because I don't really know them, but he seems to be missing social cues."

JJ looked at her in shock. "_Aaron Hotchner_? Missing social cues? I'm not sure I believe you."

"I'm just as surprised, but it's more like he knew the information but he couldn't remember it until he was reminded of it."

"Surely this happening once isn't…you mean it's happened before?"

"He says its happened a couple of times and once with Strauss, which was apparently alarming but we didn't have time for details. He's promised to explain it in more detail later."

They all fell silent as they contemplated this information. Emily watched a van drive past slowly, the front windows tinted and the back of the van windowless. Probably a delivery van looking for an address, she thought as Austin broke the silence and asked about the upcoming Winter wedding Teresa was planning. She was amused to see the incredibly poised older woman blush.

"Do you know, I'm beginning to feel like a teenager all over again? Giddy and free and totally head-over-heels in love. Dave just laughs at me now when I get this certain smile on my face. He says he almost always knows when I'm thinking about him because I get this mushy look…"

"We know," they all chorused together, causing Teresa's blush to deepen as they all laughed.

She cleared her throat. "Anyway, most of the planning is all done. It'll just be a whole heap of tiny, last minute details that will need to be attended to and so all I'm really doing is waiting for the day to arrive."

"Remind us again how long we have to arrange a frock-buying trip to ensure we all look glamorous, but not so glam that we outshine the bride, for the big day?"

Teresa smiled at Penelope's question and there was no doubt she was thinking about the man she was shortly to marry because her smile was suddenly mushy and soft all over.

"Well, we're mid-October now and the wedding is in the first week of December, so you've got about 7 weeks."

Austin winked at the girls and added, "And judging by the sudden frustration I hear in your voice, that 7 weeks won't be over soon enough."

"You've got that right," Teresa muttered with a short-lived dark look that caused more laughter.

"We should do something every weekend for the next 6, just us girls, as a way to count down to the last of us getting hitched," JJ said with a sudden grin, the gleam in her eyes indicating that they might have to find out what she had in mind before agreeing to anything. Of course, that didn't stop Penelope and Austin from jumping right on board with the idea, the three women moving to the front of the group as they planned what they could do despite not having approval from everyone else.

"Does anyone else feel old when they get together?" Kelly asked dryly.

"That doesn't really work with you though, because I'm the only one here younger than you," Carrie argued as she fell into step with her.

Emily shared an amused smile with Teresa and Jordan as the two younger women began to argue good-naturedly. The ease with which Carrie had settled into life with her husband well and truly out of the way now that he had been jailed for life had eased her own anxiety over not being there when the younger woman needed her. Not that Carrie had ever blamed her, but still. A flash of sunlight bouncing off of something shiny on the road caught her attention. She frowned slightly as a van drove slowly past.

"They must be really lost; that's the third time they've passed us in the last 10 minutes," Teresa said softly.

Jordan shot her a look that clearly said she disagreed with that assessment as Teresa got called to the front of the group to mediate a disagreement.

"Are you as suspicious as I am?" Emily asked softly.

She nodded slowly. "I don't like it, but I doubt we're in any danger. There's too many of us for anyone to try something."

"Hmm. Still, when we get to the park, we need to make sure no one is alone and that they all understand why we have arranged things like this."

"Hmm. Do you know if anyone's got a phone? Cause I didn't bring mine; I don't like to run with it on hand because it's too heavy."

"I think it's the new-mummy gene in me; the phone goes with me everywhere, even if I'm only out for a minute or two. I worry constantly that I'm going to miss something important."

Jordan smiled slightly. "I think I'm only able to leave the phone at home knowing Derek is more than capable to deal with anything that crops up. And then only because he knows exactly where I am."

"Aaron is normally the same but lately I've grown a little concerned; at least now I know why he sometimes seems confused about something I think is pretty clear cut. At any rate, he knows I've got my phone on me, so any of the guys can call if they have a panic attack about something or other."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't I know it; men can be so helpless at times." They giggled and hurried to catch up to the others as they reached the park. An explanation of their concerns later and they split up into two groups. Carrie decided against running and joined JJ, Penelope and Kelly in their meandering walk. Teresa and Austin ran daily in the morning as part of their health routines and were quite content to join Jordan and Emily as they ran the path. So with instructions to scream if they felt threatened in any way, the two groups turned in opposite directions and the workout was on.

New Section

She pushed her aching body up on the bed and looked around. The room was basic, the open window letting in cool air and the open door showing a view of a courtyard outside. The furniture consisted of a bed, chest of draws and a small table with a chair across the room.

She shifted the covers off her body and shivered slightly. She was dressed in a bright blue shift, sparkly bits on the fabric catching her eye as the sun reflected off them. She placed her bare feet on the cool tile and pushed up slowly, giving her body time to adjust to the new position as bruised muscles protested the movement. It took her several minutes to shuffle to the door, all the while wondering what her chances were going to be to escape when she was in so much pain.

Peering out the door, her eyes grew huge as she took in her surroundings and as she gripped the doorframe for support, she wondered what fairy tale nightmare she'd landed in that a place like this even existed.

New Section

"Someone paged me urgently?"

Eric Winterfields pointed towards Phil. "He has a letter fresh from the lab. Cassie's working her magic on it as we speak."

Alex walked towards where Cassie and Phil were leaning over a table in the centre of the room, dread building in his gut. Already this case was far larger than any he'd handled in the past; he'd off-loaded their other cases and stopped all other paperwork he would regularly have to deal with so that they could focus their attention full-time on finding the clue that would break the case of the century open. What he hadn't counted on was not getting _any_ downtime at all.

"What have we got?"

Phil straightened up and stretched out his back. "Marnie Stewart, Caucasian, 29, lives in Glassell Park. She was away for the weekend and was expected to meet with some girlfriends for a morning workout and breakfast when she returned yesterday morning. When she didn't show, they went to her house and used a spare key to let themselves in. With her bag still sitting packed by the front door and the plane tickets clearly not used, they called the police to come and investigate.

"At first they thought it might be gang-related due to some fresh graffiti on the side of the house but everyone said Marnie stayed well away from the gangs and was a street-savvy young woman who had never been in trouble in her life. When the police finally got down to searching her place carefully for clues to her whereabouts, they found a letter and forwarded it on to us when one of the detectives recognised the styling."

He felt excitement begin to bubble in his blood. This might be the break he'd been hoping for and as his exhaustion fell away, for the first time in months he began to feel hope that they were getting closer to what they needed. But it never hurt to be sure.

"So we have a fresh abduction that fits the MO?"

Cassie straightened up and pushed her strawberry-blonde hair off her forehead. "My expert linguistic skills tell me this letter almost exactly matches with the others and the differences are as small as any other found. I am 100% confident that the same unsub that took all the others has taken this woman."

"The processing…"

"Has been taken over by our team. Sampson and Clare are over there now overseeing the techs and Mirkal left with his camera and enough film to sink the Titanic a second time. They aren't intending to miss a thing and will be in contact as soon as they have anything." He turned to his desk and when he turned back, he held out a sticky note. "This is the address for you, since I know you well enough to know you wouldn't just wait around here for information."

Alex grinned at his long-time best friend and co-worker. "Thanks Phil; you're truly a smart man."

"Sure am."

"If you come up with anything else…"

"We'll be straight on the phone to you," Cassie interrupted.

"If they find anyone else missing…"

"The same thing will happen," Phil said with a laugh. "Gee, act like you don't trust us or some such similar action. Shoo; we have everything under control here."

Alex grinned as he turned to retrace his steps back to the parking lot. _We will catch you, you sonofabitch, and when we do, you'll wish you'd never been born._

New Section

"Have you decided yet?"

"You sound so impatient with me. Like I'm a burden even after I've been such a great help to you in the past, like…"

"Stop! I'm sorry." He took a deep breath in and sighed. "Look, I'm just tired is all, and missing my bed and my women and my children greatly. That's the only reason I'm trying to rush you through this, so that I can go home. Surely you can understand that."

He sighed too. "I do understand and I'm sorry for holding you up. I don't mean to, it's just that I don't want to make a mistake with this; it's far too important and I don't want to have to add to the Rose Garden with my first one."

"I can understand that. Have you made your decision?"

He grimaced slightly and sighed again. "My decision is that I'll wait a bit longer before making a decision. I just can't choose between them; I want them all. And it really isn't fair when you've all been so patient with me that I make you wait any longer."

Silence may have filled the enclosed space they were in, but they were far from silent as conversation was exchanged with a flurry of hand signals and looks. When a decision was finally made, they were all in agreement.

"Are you absolutely certain that you want _all_ of them?"

"Yes," he said slowly, looking from one man to another to the last of them.

"There are enough of us that we could make this happen if we all work together. Has anyone seen a communications device or a weapon of any kind on them?" When the answer was a negative, he continued slowly, "Then lets figure out how to get our little brother his own personal harem all in one."

End-

**A/N: Okay, so maybe you'll have to wait a touch longer for the pace to pick up…hmm. Maybe I shouldn't predict **_**anything**_**…**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Another dawn, another day and another chance to advance this piece. Wish me luck getting this to where I want it to go. :p**

**Most gigantic apologies for not having this out two days ago. I was going to have this posted by the time I went to bed on Monday but my manager called me first thing Monday morning and told me a new lady was starting and she would be training with me for the first two days of this week. So there went my idea of being up to chapter 5 already. I do however have a three day weekend coming up so am intending to go a little crazy with the writing unless my plans change at the last minute.**

**I have just been utterly blown away by the generosity of everyone's reviews. I absolutely could NOT do this without all of you behind me and wanting more. I'll only stop this when the reviews stop (hopefully that will be ages away because I am having sooooo much fun with this). So to this end, many thanks go out to Wtiger5, miaa29, HPforever-after, Hazmatt, greengirl82 and HGRHfan35 for saying such wonderful things; the piece continues on because of you.**

**Thanks also to DianaJ22 and StarDuquesneEMT for adding this story as a favourite already (only up to chapter 3 so you guys are amazing for my ego). I also want to thank anyone else who has alerted to my stories in any way or to me as an author. It really does do my heart good to know that what I write seems to be so appreciated and so please know that this is all dedicated to you, the fans, because you are just so amazing.**

**I am dedicating this chapter specifically to miaa29 for making me feel so incredibly good about the changes I've made so far to Emily's backstory when I was almost literally biting my nails over whether everyone would be okay with it; you really did make my day sweetie.**

**I also want to say a special thanks to Hazmatt for _again_ picking up on a mistake I made in the last chapter. I swear my editing skills are getting worse the longer I write so maybe I should start thinking about finding a beta…hmm. I will do my best to have this mistake-free by the time I post it and I'd just like to apologise to everyone for all the mistakes I am making…it really isn't like me, I swear. I have since fixed the mistake and reposted the last chapter. The mistake doesn't actually have bearing on this chapter.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 4

"Okay, now that the ladies have left us to it, Aaron, spit it out. Whatever it is that's been bothering you since the accident, just get it all out because my doctor's radar is going nuts."

Aaron smiled dryly. "That bad huh?"

Brad shrugged. "What can I say; as a doctor I tend to see things that most people wouldn't even notice. Your confusion at times when you are an extremely confident Alpha male has been raising red flags for weeks. The only reason I hadn't confronted you already was that a carefully phrased question to Emily informed me that you hadn't spoken to her about what was bothering you and so I didn't want to bring it up in front of her in case you were keeping quiet for a reason."

Aaron's smile grew. "You are a true friend Brad. Truly though, I finally spoke to Emily just now before she left and everything is fine."

"Fine as in, now you've off-loaded your burdens you feel better or fine as in, what was wrong has now gone away?"

"The first one." He detailed everything that had happened since the accident that had concerned him and watched as Brad's open and friendly face took on its 'doctor look'.

"Do you know, I don't think that's too out of the ordinary for patients recovering from head injuries. You said your confusion and forgetfulness is always limited to the moment and then once it's been explained it's as if nothing ever happened, right?"

"That's it exactly. It's never the same thing twice."

Brad nodded and smiled. "I wouldn't be too concerned about it. You had a massive head trauma followed by major surgery. Then you were still recovering before that from your breakdown. Truthfully, I might have been more suspicious if you'd had no reaction of any kind. I guess, to put it in terms you might more easily understand, it is your brains' way of adjusting to everything it has been through. Once it has adjusted, I imagine that this will all settle down and you won't have any more happenings of a similar kind.

"I would still mention it to your neuro-specialist for follow-up over the next little while, but I doubt it has anything to do with something still being physically wrong with your head."

"Is it too cliché to say that what you just said is a massive load off of my mind?"

Everyone groaned even as they chuckled and the heaviness in the air lightened as they moved into the living area to see what the children were up to.

New Section

Alex felt that his eyes would fall out of his head if he continued staring at the hundreds of photos Mirkal had taken of Marnie's home; yet whenever he thought about taking a break, something else would catch his eye and draw him back in. He knew he was obsessing over this, but with the scene still fresh, he found that he just didn't care how it looked to anyone as long as the outcome was a positive one.

The ringing phone jarred his concentration and he glared at the handset for a moment before he picked it up and straightened in his chair, his neck and back protesting the movement almost violently.

"Jackson," he barked, deciding he was entitled to being annoyed at being interrupted.

"Well aren't you just in a foul mood today."

He groaned internally and straightened further in the chair. "Director Fickler. Sorry about that; I've been staring at photos for a few hours and I'm frustrated at not getting anything out of them after so much time."

"That's understandable Alex, especially considering the amount of pressure you've placed on yourself to solve these abductions. Unfortunately for you, I'm about to dump a fairly heavy amount of pressure on top of what you are already under."

He groaned out loud this time. "I'd heard a rumour that one of the abductions might have political ramifications?"

"Not quite, but close enough. You've heard of Jason Schleberger?"

"Doesn't he own the largest oil and gas company in the world?"

"He does, and it's made him a multi-billionaire and a man you don't want to cross. Regrettably for him, the unsub took the man's youngest daughter several years ago. The file is on its way to your inbox and the original letter is on its way to you by courier. How many confirmed victims do you now have?"

"About a 103, the last time I spoke with Agent De Tritt. Not all states, but we have a couple of cases from clear across the country in New York, so clearly this guy isn't choosy about his hunting ground. Thus we are having a hell of a time pinning down a geographical profile, particularly since none of us are really that good at it."

"Yes well, to that end, I'm calling in some additional help for you. There's a BAU team in Quantico with an impeccable track record. They're all on leave at the moment, but if you're willing to send copies of your information over to them, I'll get them to look it all over and give you an in-depth assessment."

"Would they be willing to interrupt their leave like that?"

"Since their leave was not of the willing variety, I doubt they'll mind. I heard most of them are chomping at the bit to get back to work now even though they haven't been medically cleared."

"Are you talking about the team that was in that plane crash a month ago?"

"That's them. SSA Aaron Hotchner and his team are off until the end of the year and are apparently already complaining about that fact."

"But it's only mid-October."

"Yep, so you can see why they'd probably be happy to help. I'm calling them as soon as I get off the phone with you."

"Well I suppose any help we can get would be great, but is he any good?"

"He and his team have the best track record of all the BAU teams and better than that are the fact that Agent Hotchner and SSA David Rossi were part of the very first team when the BAU was first dreamed into existence. This gives you years of profiling experience and then there are the rest of the team to take into account and well, you'll get the point when the insights start rolling in."

"Good thing I trust you then, isn't it? Since you aren't giving much away, that is?"

"Trust me Alex, you'll thank me later. Now, considering the time difference, I'll call them now before I head home for the day. You have all my numbers, so don't hesitate to call if you need anything else. This big case just became bigger."

Listening to the dial tone a few seconds later, Alex muttered, "No shit."

New Section

"There you are, finally awake. Why don't you come and sit down? We're just about to eat so you have perfect timing and I'm sure you must be starving by now."

"I'd really rather go home."

"Don't be silly; you _are_ home."

New Section

"Are we decided? We're really going to do this?"

"It's an acceptable risk to gain happiness for our brother."

They both murmured their agreement.

"Are we all completely clear on the plan? Because if this isn't as tight as tight can be we will be biting off far more than we can chew."

When they were all absolutely certain they knew what the plan was, they settled back to wait for the perfect moment.

New Section

"You look like you could quite happily run all the way home from here. Can you maybe stop moving for two seconds? You're making even _me_ tired to just look at you."

Emily laughed at the face Austin pulled at her and reigned in her enthusiasm to get home and boot everyone out of the house.

"So do I need to occupy the boys for a few hours?"

Emily's smile came slowly as a thought came to her. "Could you maybe occupy them for the entire rest of the day and put them to bed this evening? That way I can take my time with my drop-dead-gorgeous husband." She put a little shimmy in her hips and the girls rolled their eyes and made a couple of lewd comments about her and Aaron as they exited the park and headed back towards the house. Emily replied to every one of the comments with a comment of her own that made the others blush and after a minute they stopped making fun of her near-voracious sexual appetite.

"Do you know, I swear the baby hormones never left. I don't recall being this horny since the first time around with Aaron."

"Brad once told me only exhaustion makes a woman less randy."

"Either that or a headache," Jordan agreed.

"Don't forget monthlies," Austin piped in with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

Emily screwed up her nose. "Let's not talk about monthlies. I had a month-long one of those following giving birth and it was so _far_ away from fun that burying me then would have produced a better party."

Groans turned into laughter, though Jordan, Carrie and JJ were nodding their agreement.

"Do you know I'd forgotten that downside. Thanks so much for bringing it back up," JJ said as she swiped half-heartedly at Emily's arm. Emily danced out of the way and curtsied.

Carrie sighed. "She'll be impossible now until she's gotten her way, so don't even bother trying to reign her in."

Austin suddenly shot Carrie a sly look. "Hey, it just dawned on me that you live with the Hotchners." She ignored the teasing comments at her slow thinking and continued, "So maybe you could let us all in on the goss of living with the boss?"

Carrie blushed slightly and shook her head as she ducked it. Emily turned to scold Austin for her audacity in even asking the question and nearly tripped on her own feet as she came to a halt.

"If you don't do anything stupid, then maybe they'll live to see their babies born. Scream, or otherwise make things difficult for us and I won't hesitate to carve either of the brats out of them, leave them behind to die and sew the ladies back up to make more." When none of them moved, he nodded. "Let's go ladies, nice and slow now."

They moved in the direction indicated and Emily picked up on the sameness of the van from earlier in the afternoon. She shot Jordan a look and received a raised eyebrow in return. A flicker of a glance at Penelope and JJ told her that trying anything could be fatal for someone if they didn't play their cards right. She shook her head minutely and kept moving.

Austin moved closer, shaking and crying softly. "What are we going to do?" She whispered as Emily wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

Another look at JJ and Penelope and she shook her head again. "I don't know Austin. I just don't know."

End-

**A/N: I'm pretty sure I promised you all that I would leave our favourite superheroes alone for a while and give them a break from all the bad stuff in life, but this was entirely necessary for the story and I promise I won't leave you hanging for too long as to what happens next.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay, now I'm up to where I thought I would be by the end of chapter 1 and things will shortly begin to make a lot of sense. But I'll keep this note short because I'm sure you want to know what's happening with our favourite bunch of amazing ladies.**

**The reviews just keep on coming so I just keep on writing. Hazmatt and HPforever-after get my undying thanks for bringing a smile to my face yesterday morning when I opened my email; this one is for the two of you. Thanks also to HGRHfan35 for another wonderful review that brought a smile to my face right before I went to bed last night; I promise the angst for our team will actually not be as bad as you are anticipating it to be.**

**NO MAJOR MISTAKES! Phew; this means I don't have to take time away from the new chapter to reload an old one (and what's the bet I really goofup on this one now that I've boasted?) **

**I also want to thank anyone else who has alerted to my stories in any way or to me as an author. It really does do my heart good to know that what I write seems to be so appreciated and so please know that this is also dedicated to you, the fans, because you are just so amazing. But please also feel free to review because I do like reviews more.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 5

The ringing phone intruded on an extremely boisterous, extremely vocal game of poker. Aaron thought seriously about not answering it, but if it was Emily checking up on everyone and he didn't answer, there'd be hell to pay when the ladies rushed home to find out nothing was wrong except that he was teaching their son a game that he really shouldn't learn before reaching adulthood.

"Jack, remember; if your mother asks what we did while she was gone, we just played snap or something else equally innocent. You aren't to mention that I taught you to play poker. Understand?"

"It's okay daddy; I'll protect you from mummy's wrath if she finds out."

Most of the adults hid amused smiles at the surprise on Aaron's face as he picked up the phone.

"Hotchner residence."

"Agent Hotchner? This is Director Jack Fickler."

Aaron held up a hand and received immediate quiet.

"Director. This is an unexpected surprise."

"I understand that. I also understand from Erin Strauss that you and your team are on medical leave until the end of the year but that you're less than pleased with the situation at hand."

Frowning in confusion, he replied slowly, "Well, all of that is true but is it relevant to this conversation?"

"It may be, if you and your team would be willing to consult on a case for me. All the facts pertaining to the case would be forwarded on to you and you would have clear access to the team spear-heading the investigation. The best part is you wouldn't be involved in anything physical that might get any of you in trouble with spouses or doctors."

"I can't answer for everyone but I personally think it's a great idea. Could I get back to you in a couple of hours?"

"Of course. I expected you would need some time to consult with your team. Time is of the essence however, so please get back to me as soon as you can."

"How many are affected by this?"

"We've got over a hundred victims that we are currently sure of and probably more that we aren't even aware of yet. Then of course it is the families of the victims who need answers and what we've got is a mess we weren't expecting a month ago when I got the primary team onto it."

"I'll call you back shortly with an answer. Is this number the best one?"

"It is, and thank you in advance."

Aaron hung up, thoroughly amused by the implied agreement the director had left him with and turned to answer the query he knew everyone had.

"Director Fickler needs our help on what sounds like a potential ticking time bomb. Who's in?"

New Section

"So what's your name?"

She thought about withholding her name, but the man who'd taken her had all her personal information and though she hadn't seen him since he'd taken her, he could come back at any moment. And besides, this might be a test to see if they'd broken her spirit and if that was so, she didn't want them finding out otherwise until she was ready to escape this crazy place. And when she escaped, she needed to have as much information to take to the authorities as she could manage so maybe this was a good opener to milking this woman for all the information she was worth.

She cleared her throat and said softly, "My name is Marnie. What's yours?"

"I'm Elizabeth. Welcome to The King's Palace."

"How long have you been here and _where_ is here?"

"A few years now and in time, you'll find that things aren't so bad here. You'll make friends among the other wives and then when you start having babies you'll find a full support group of other mothers who'll teach you everything you need to know about how to be a good mother and how to balance that with being a good wife. Trust me, you aren't alone here. As to where here is, it's just home; the location isn't that important."

Wondering what kind of medication Elizabeth might be taking that could cause her to be so delusional and knowing that the location could potentially be everything, she asked, "How many of us are there here?" She could come back on the other facts later. There was no point in being hasty if it got her killed in the process.

"Us? Oh, you mean wives? Well, I think there are upward of about a hundred and fifty of us but that doesn't take into account the fact that Najeeb is out choosing his wives as we speak so it could be a lot more by the time the wedding festival arrives at the end of the month."

"Wedding festival?"

"Mmm." Elizabeth bounced a little where she sat; this was clearly a popular topic with her. "Each male member of the family has one month to gather as many wives as he chooses. Samel was pretty boring because he really only wanted two wives and though he came away with three, well, let's just say the festival was a quiet one. But Malik collected thirty wives in his first month and because he's the oldest, he's recently had a second month because his first wives are beginning to get old and you can't have a sheik with ugly wives. So now he has about seventy wives.

"Anyway, after the month long gathering of wives and the rituals to drive out rebellious spirits have been completed comes the wedding festival. We set up the square with a bed fit for a god and decorate the area with prayers inciting healthy marriages, open wombs, unity and a whole host of other prayers. Then the priest and the prince gather up all the brides and the marriages take place. The festival lasts as long as the prince has women to marry because after each ceremony, the prince takes his new bride to bed in front of the entire community. This ensures no evil spirits can sneak into the marriage bed and drive a wedge between the couple before they even bond and keeps the bride safe from harm as she conceives. There is usually one wedding a day until all the unions have taken place."

Marnie felt nausea threaten but forced it down as she asked carefully, "And when is the next marriage festival?"

"Well, you were the first woman Najeeb chose and that was the day before yesterday and with no one else selected since; this means you'll have such an advantage over the other women coming in. You have me as a friend now and I'll introduce you to some other women who can give you tips and pointers that will help you to become the favourite. Once you are the favourite, you have nothing to fear unless you fall out of favour, but that almost never happens, because being in favour gives you almost unlimited power over the other wives and ensures you spend maximum quality time with your husband."

Her head spinning, Marnie stood up slowly. "I think I need to go lie back down."

Elizabeth jumped up and put a supportive arm around her shoulders. "Of course you do, and here I am just nattering on with not a care for what you've been through. You know, they said you had more rebellious spirits in you than anyone else who has ever come in here, so the ritual cleansing lasted longer than it should have. Of course you'd be exhausted, but don't worry; you'll get your energy back soon enough and when you do, we'll start teaching you how to be the best wife you can possibly be because I like you and I like to help my friends whenever I can."

Marnie just nodded as Elizabeth eased her down onto her bed. Closing her eyes in an attempt to feign sleep, she heard Elizabeth leave and close her door behind her. She didn't hear a lock click, so she assumed she was free to wander about this place and see what she could.

Her head spinning with all this new information, Marnie started to carefully plan her escape from this hell she'd found herself in.

New Section

Emily looked around her at the scene unfolding and though she didn't like the odds, she was almost completely convinced that she could get them all out of this. She just needed to bide her time and wait for the perfect moment.

Upon getting them into the van, the two men with the knives had JJ and Penelope use industrial strength tape to wrap up all of their wrists. Of course, actually getting them to do it hadn't been straightforward and had required several rather dire threats from their captors and assurances from both Emily and Jordan that everything would be alright if they just co-operated. The tones in their voices clearly tacked on an unspoken 'it's just for now; be patient' that both women had picked up on and so they'd reluctantly done as they were told. Surprisingly though the men seemed to think it was alright leaving them untapped and probably thought that they would be the least threatening of the bunch because of their conditions.

Emily thought that what the enemy didn't know wouldn't hurt them; yet.

Clearly the rest of the girls had picked up on those tones as well, because Austin had stopped crying and Kelly and Teresa had started watching them covertly. They were all obviously waiting for her to indicate what the plan was that would get them all out alive. She just hoped she didn't let anyone down in the process or worse yet, leave anyone behind.

Thankfully though their captors had been oblivious to the silent messages passing among the girls and didn't seem to care if they whispered among themselves, so long as they didn't do anything suspicious.

The two men in the front of the van were silent and if they were communicating in any way, it wasn't one that Emily was able to pick up on. The two in the back with them were another matter entirely and though their foreign language conversation was probably to keep everyone in the dark, for her it just making her cold.

"They're middle eastern right? What are they saying?" Jordan asked with barely any noise near her ear.

She turned her head to reply in kind. "They're talking about how the guy with the knife to JJ's side needs to decide if he is going to let them keep the babies or if they should go through forced abortions and cleansing rituals in order to purify them for the marriage bed. The guy holding Penelope says that they'll probably lose their babies anyway during the ritual to drive out rebellious spirits so perhaps it should be done in advance so that it is less painful for them in the end."

Jordan shuddered slightly. "I don't think there is any way of talking about murdering an unborn child that isn't going to be painful to the mothers. Can we get _all_ of us out of this in one piece?"

She looked around them again and nodded just slightly. "Yes, I think there is, but we'll need to be ready the second that both JJ and Penelope's captors might be distracted, and they need to be prepared to _possibly_ get just a little cut up in the process if these guys react faster than we'd like them to to anything we might try."

"The plan?"

Emily outlined her idea and Jordan nodded slowly. "That could work, but there'd have to be no hesitation."

Emily agreed. "JJ can pull Penelope with her because they are together. Kelly's in charge of getting Carrie out, you get Austin and I'll get Teresa. We can do this, but we might only have a split second to get this to work so make sure as you are passing it on that it is clearly understood."

Jordan nodded and turned to Austin as Emily turned to Teresa and nudged her gently.

"How you doing?"

"I've definitely had better days, but I've also had worse so I think I'm doing alright at the moment. What's the plan?"

End-

**A/N: Okay, so I thought about just immediately rescuing the girls by getting them to scream for help or to have passersby see their plight and leap to their rescue, but this is far more in line with the story and how it's going to play out in the end, don't you think? Wait, I'm the only one in on the ending. Oh well, I guess you'll just have to wait and see. ;)**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Ugg, I'm so sorry for not getting this out over the weekend. My weekend was pretty horrible (enough so that I was completely happy to be coming back to work…ssh, don't tell anyone I said that) and my creative juices had completely run out. But I am hopefully back now and back in the mojo.**

**But no matter how slow I may be in updating, I will never stop appreciating my amazing reviewers. You guys never cease to bring me joy and these latest reviews were no exception. Greengirl82, it's all good if you miss a chapter; though I do so love your reviews and appreciate that you wrote a little something not only about chapter 4, but about 3 as well. HPforever-after; sorry if the storyline is a bit creepy. This one has been building for a while and unfortunately I just had to put it out there. Hopefully later chapters will be less creepy for you as the story gains momentum and more info is filled in; the focus won't always be on the bad stuff. Miaa29, I think large might be a bit of an understatement at this stage considering what I still have running through my head but we'll play it by ear. I'm completely glad that you are along for the ride with me and I'll try not to be away too long in between chapters. Hazmatt, expect more adorable moments and loads of action to come as Emily works to keep them all alive and as the team as a whole works to catch the bad guys and get their ladies back. Thanks heaps for liking what I write. HGRHfan35, hint I may, but I am hopefully not too predictable and it still ends up being an enjoyable read. Get ready for a whole lot of butt kicking from a whole heap of different angles.**

**I would also love to give a big shout-out to a reviewer who is slowly making her way through my early work and will eventually catch up with where we are all currently at. To x-MJ-x, even with the lengthy messaging going on outside of the reviews, I don't think I've adequately explained how much your friendship and support truly means to me. I love you to pieces and back again. Thanks for reviewing Of Family & Mistletoe and the first 4 chapters of The Road to Nowhere all in the same day. I love seeing them anew through your eyes.**

**But now on with the story; the less time I waffle on here, the more time I have to write another chapter. **

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 6

Aaron frowned in irritation as his mobile rang for the second time in fifteen minutes and ignored the guys as they laughed at his expression.

_Next time, I'm turning the phone off when I have a guy's day._

"Hotchner," he said as he waved everyone to be quiet.

"Is this SSAIC Aaron Hotchner."

"It is," he replied cautiously. "To whom am I speaking?"

"This is SSAIC Alex Jackson, with California's Los Angeles branch office. I believe that Director Fickler recently requested your help on one of our cases and that you had agreed to that request. Considering the size of this case and how stalled we are with it, I thought I would get right on to finding out what your fax number is so we can send the information we currently have to you straight away."

Aaron raised an eyebrow, even knowing the other man couldn't see it. "I actually told the director that I would discuss it with my team and get back to him, as we are all on leave and I don't want to make it a unilateral decision without discussion." He turned as the doorbell peeled through the house and winced just slightly as he thought of the girls sleeping in their little port-a-crib at the side of the room and Ben sound asleep on his fathers' shoulder. But the girls stayed sleeping, Derek appeared to be breathing a sigh of relief and Dave passed him on the way to the door, leaving him to deal with the agent at the other end of the line.

"I see." Alex was silent for several long seconds before he sighed tiredly. "I'm sorry for jumping the gun here Agent Hotchner. I honestly thought we already had you all on board with this. I'll do my best to practice the virtue of patience my mother always said I was terrible at."

It was Aaron's turn to be quiet for a few moments before speaking. "Is the case that bad?"

"It's worse."

Aaron shoved a hand through his hair and sighed. "Look, I can't speak for my team and I'm guessing you know why it isn't an order for us to help you out, but if you want to send through what you have, I'll start looking at it this evening and hope my wife doesn't kill me for not discussing it with her first."

He could hear the sudden humour in the other mans' voice as he replied, "Well, I wouldn't want to get you kicked out of bed; I'll wait if you want to run it past her first."

Aaron chuckled. "She isn't home for me to ask but considering I've been driving her nuts over the last few weeks, I'm sure she'll be happy once I explain the situation. She's also an agent on maternity leave and is herself frustrated from enforced leave so she'll probably demand that I let her help. Let me just grab that fax number..."

A wordless roar of fury and fear ripped through the house from near the entrance to the living area, startling all three babies into screaming wakefulness, causing the boys to squeak in fright and dart towards their parents (or in Toby's case, him) and causing most of the adults in the room to reach for weapons they weren't actually carrying on their persons'.

"What on earth was that?" Agent Jackson demanded.

"Wait a minute and I'll find out," Aaron said as he crouched down to hug Jack and Toby to him. He could see Brad and Kevin, each with one of his daughters in their arms and each trying to soothe that child. Brad's experience as a doctor was obviously winning out, but Kevin needed the practice so Aaron left them to it as he turned to see Dave shaking in the doorway, a thick piece of parchment in his hand.

Derek beat him to it, demanding in a rough voice, "What the hell was that man? You better have a good reason for scaring everyone half to death."

Aaron noted the chalky whiteness of his friend's face as the older man lifted the parchment and held out an envelope. "A kid down the street found it on the pavement coming back from the park and remembered seeing the women leaving when he was just arriving and though he only recognised Emily and Carrie, he figured this was the right place to deliver _this_." 'This' was spat out in a venomous tone of voice none of them had ever heard Dave use before and suddenly he had everyone's full attention. "The envelope is addressed to The Families of Penelope, Jennifer, Austin, Carrie, Teresa, Kelly, Jordan and Emily. To the families of these beautiful women, don't mourn their loss in your lives..."

"Agent Jackson, I need to call you…"

But Alex Jackson wasn't done with the call and as Dave continued to read what was written on the parchment in his hand, Aaron's heart sank as he heard the same words echoed from clear across the country. "...but rejoice in the knowledge that your ladies are enriching the lives of their new husband and extended family. Be at peace, knowing they will be treated as the treasures they are and will be cared for all their days until the time they return to the heaven they surely must have come from."

Dave finished with, "It isn't signed."

Everyone turned to look at him as Aaron put the call on speaker and set the phone on the table so that he could hold Toby and Jack properly. Alex snorted angrily and swore. "It never is. The pretty speech is all you get and is the unsub's most disturbing signature. They take…"

"They?"

"Yes, we are dealing with multiple unsub's, all with a common goal. They take the woman or women they want and they leave behind a letter assuring the families and/or spouses that they don't need to worry about their lady because they are going to marry her and take good care of her for the rest of her days.

"Damn it all to hell. They only took their last victim here in LA just yesterday morning. How the hell did they get clear across the country in a _day_ and _still_ find time for hunting?" He started muttering to himself, his language degrading the longer he muttered until finally he spoke up again. "We'll be there as soon as we can. Bag that letter and any other evidence you may find, because I know you won't just sit there and wait for us to come to you. Take a thorough record of any witness reports or camera sightings you make collect and we'll pool it with what we've got when we get there."

"Answer me this before you go; have you ever found any of the women who went missing?"

"No. It was the letters that alerted us to the fact that we had a case. None of the over 100 women associated with the letters has ever been found."

He felt a deep sinking sensation. "Send through what you have before you go; I'll send that fax number to you and we'll start gathering the evidence here and compare it to all that you send through. Contact me when you arrive and I'll let you know where we're at."

"Consider it done, and if you have any questions in the interim, call immediately. It's never hit quite so close to home, but if your wife is an agent and one of the women that letter is referring to is your wife…"

"Yes, one of those women is my wife. Five of those eight women are agents, four of whom are on my team and the last is married to one of my team members. Of the other three women, one is the wife of another one of my team members, another is a fiancée of the man who answered the door and first read the letter who is also a team member and the other is my children's nanny. You can't get any closer to home."

"Clearly not. We are just about ready to go, so we'll be on the ground in Virginia in about 4 hours; the upper brass here are pushing this through as we speak. We'll go through official channels to arrange vehicles and such."

"Let me know if you hit any roadblocks there; you and your team have intimate knowledge of what is happening and we have to hit the ground running with almost no background on the case, all while trying to deal with our panic over what is happening to our ladies, two of whom are pregnant. We really need you here sooner versus later."

"I understand completely. Send me that number in the next minute and we'll send everything off before we leave here. The photos from the newest crime scene haven't been copied to paper yet, so we'll bring them with us and we'll also be bringing the physical evidence we have. You'll have the rest on your fax within the hour."

"Thanks. Failing to get them back isn't an option here; I refuse to let my three children grow up without their mother."

"That's good; hold on to that belief and with luck we'll somehow turn it into a reality. See you soon."

With that he hung up and Aaron did his best to comfort Jack and Toby as they clung to him and sobbed. He looked around the room at large and thought that if the determination he could see on his friends faces was anything to go by, they might just break this case yet.

New Section

"Do you know where we're going?"

Emily shot the men near JJ and Penelope a cautious look and murmured in reply, "I'm not really sure. They keep talking about returning to the palace, but that could be anywhere."

Austin leaned into Jordan's side and murmured something too soft for Emily to hear, piquing her curiosity. She didn't have to wait long to find out what it was.

Jordan leaned in closer and said softly, "Austin just saw a city limits sign."

She frowned. "Which city?"

"Baltimore."

Her frown deepened as she tried to fathom where these guys were taking them. She wasn't given that long to figure it out, as Teresa leaned into her side and whispered, "Do you think anyone's found the letter they left yet? Do you think they know we're missing?"

Emily rested her head briefly against the other woman's shoulder in comfort. "I'm sure it's been found by now. I saw one of the kids from down the street near the park as we were leaving and he's always walking around watching the ground in case he finds anything interesting. They'll figure it out and come to our rescue if they can unless we get a break sooner."

"Do you think we will?" Jordan asked softly as they pulled over yet again to change drivers.

Emily sighed as the knife at JJ's throat cut her skin just slightly, a threat to all of them to stay put and not to try anything.

"I really don't know anymore. But I think if we do get a break, we may only have seconds to make this work so we all need to stay alert."

"I somehow doubt any of us are sleeping any time soon," Jordan muttered as they continued on their way.

End-

**A/N: I was totally going to have this in a different place by now but this just called for a new chapter, so stay tuned to this space to see what happens next.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Okay so this was going to be out day before yesterday but my boss gave me a pretty time-consuming task and the customers never quite went away so it just didn't happen. And then I had it completely written but not edited last night but I had a social that got in the way. But now here it is and all I ask is that you don't kill me when you reach the end.**

**I don't think I could ever thank my wonderful reviewers enough for brightening up my day with their wonderful words. Thanks this chapter go out to Hazmatt, HPforever-after and HGRHfan35. Also, thanks to x-MJ-x who reviewed the last 3 chapters of The Road to Nowhere overnight. I hope you all know how important you are to me but just in case I've never said it, I appreciate you all greatly and you are all integral to the continued progression of the greater storyline.**

**This front section will use first names only, but in introductions between teams in the chapters to come, there will be notes of who does what with Alex Jackson's team, so please just bear with me and if anyone has any questions, just ask and I'll do my best to answer promptly. **

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 7

Alex had known unsub's in the past to be idiots. What he'd never known them to be was suicidal. At least not when they hadn't been cornered that is. But in taking 5 FBI agents and 3 more besides who were important to FBI members, they had as good as signed their death warrants. And proved themselves to be a fearless element in this case. But that didn't stop these guys from falling into the flaming idiots category; anyone who would attempt to take on 8 able-bodied women all at once _definitely_ qualified.

"Do we have names and faces yet?" he asked Mirkal as the other man passed him with a sheaf of papers.

Mirkal shot him a dark look. "Whoever restocked the stationary draw got everything _but_ the paper. We just ran out and the fax indicated there were another 20 pages to go. Could we try a hook-up with one of their techs?"

"Won't work," Cassie said as she jabbed a thumb towards one of the windows. "The storm cell we are skirting the edges of just dumped the signal strength to less than nothing and there is a faint smoky smell around the circuitry, indicating we may have taken a residual hit from the lightning. Besides, we'll be down on the ground in an hour; we'll get the rest of what we need then."

"As long as we come down in _one_ piece and not in _pieces_ like the other team did," Eric muttered.

"So what _did_ come through?" Alex asked as he shot Eric a quelling look.

Mirkal's look turned frustrated as he leafed through what he had. "Those guys must be close to tearing their hair out; all this basically amounts to is no information. They have a woman who reported seeing the same van driving past her house about three or four times but all she could say about it was that it was white, with no windows or logos of any kind. She didn't think to get a licence plate. The boy who found the letter saw the van parked across the street and thinks that maybe there were two guys in it, but the windows at the front were tinted too dark for him to be sure and his attention was caught by the women passing him at the time so again, he didn't see anything of worth."

"Any clues of _any_ kind?" Eric demanded as he finished his coffee.

"None. No indication of where they might have been picked up and the women were out jogging…"

"In _this_ weather?" Cassie interrupted, shock evident in her voice.

"Apparently the weather turned abruptly and wasn't so bad earlier in the afternoon. _Anyway_, as I was saying, they didn't have purses they could have dropped because they were running. Uh, there _was_ a gas station about nine blocks away and close enough to the interchange out of the city that the van may have used it, but with no adequate time frame to go on, it's going to be hard to know which van it is they need to follow because there were three matching the description given that stopped and another five that passed by without stopping. And that's _only_ if they went that way; there is no guarantee of this."

"So potentially seven smoke-screens, one actual vehicle and no clues to which one it is?"

"That pretty much sums it up boss. Sorry."

"Not your fault and not theirs either. It would have been too good to be true if we actually caught a break from this one. Clare, how long until we land?"

Clare looked up from the paperwork she was looking at as she returned from the cockpit. "The captain just indicated that we've been re-routed to Baltimore because the storm has just shut down DC's airport. Because of this, we'll be landing in just over 15 minutes instead of in about 40 because we were slotted in as an emergency landing. So everyone needs to buckle in and get settled, because it sounds like Baltimore may not be that much calmer on the landing. I'll arrange cars for us as soon as we hit the ground."

Alex nodded approval of this plan as he took his usual seat and prayed that the storm wouldn't completely kill any of their chances to pick up new clues.

New Section

"Daddy?"

Aaron looked in the rear view mirror and attempted a smile. "Hey buddy, did you sleep well?"

Jack rubbed his eyes and looked at Toby beside him who was still sound asleep and at his sisters sleeping in their baby car seat beyond him.

"No. I kept dreaming I was running through a snowstorm and trying to find mummy and I could hear her calling out to me but I couldn't find her."

Aaron nodded and gripped the steering wheel hard. "I know son. But we are doing everything we can to find her and Carrie and the others as well and you know us all well enough to know that we aren't going to give up."

He nodded solemnly and looked out the window. "Where are we going daddy?"

"We're going to Baltimore. There are people coming from across the country who can help us find mummy and since we have a clue that is taking us in that direction, we are on our way to follow it up."

"Okay daddy."

Aaron shot his son another half-smile which faded as he slipped back into sleep. Kevin had pushed through his panic and come through for the team, following each of the vans seen in the gas station cameras back to their roots. Of the eight that fit within the time frame, six had come to a stop within the city limits and had already been closely searched. One of the last two continued on towards North Carolina and had already been stopped by state troopers and cleared. The other one, last seen passing through Baltimore and with the closest exact match to the described vehicle, had disappeared entirely off the grid. Kevin was still searching the road camera logs as they were emailed to him but had so far come up with nothing useful.

So they'd all piled into the cars and taken off and they hadn't stopped to take the time to find someone to leave the children behind with. Derek and Will were in the car just in front of him, with Henry and Ben in the backseat. The car behind him had Dave at the wheel with Kevin in the passenger seat and Reid in back with his casted and still-healing leg stretched out. Brad sat in his passenger seat and together they brooded over what their ladies might be going through.

And about 15 minutes behind them, the rest of the FBI support Strauss had ordered up attempted to catch up to the three vehicles which were already moving rapidly ahead with lights showing their urgency and alerting the cars in front to get the hell out of their way or suffer the consequences.

New Section

"Emily."

Jordan bumped her shoulder hard and she shifted awkwardly round to face the other woman. Her legs were well and truly asleep where she was squished up against the side near the door and her whole body ached much as it had right after giving birth to the twins.

In the van they'd first been shoved into when they were kidnapped, at least there had been just a little legroom for everyone. But about three hours ago they'd been moved into the smaller, dark blue van and the legroom had disappeared.

For hours they'd travelled down the highway and she hadn't recognised or seen anything helpful in telling her where they were, but for the last 5 minutes, as she'd watched the glimpses of the outside world she was getting through the front window she thought the skyline ahead looked just a little familiar to her. And though she wouldn't swear by it, she thought that, just maybe, they might be entering New York City and if that _was_ the case, they were hopefully going to be hitting traffic and soon.

"What is it?" She asked softly, even as she noticed Austin was really pale and sweaty.

Jordan nodded her head in the younger woman's direction just in case Emily hadn't noticed the obvious. "She doesn't know exactly. She just knows she's got really sharp pain in her abdomen and she thinks she's bleeding."

"Actually," Austin interrupted softly as she shifted slightly, "I know I am."

They both looked at her closely and noticed the blood beginning to seep into the soft yellow fabric of her sweatpants.

"Is it your monthlies?" Kelly asked softly as she leaned into the conversation from Austin's other side.

"You there, what is wrong?"

They all jumped slightly at the raised, accented voice coming from the man with his arm around Penelope's shoulders.

"I don't know, but I'm not feeling well and I think I'm going to be sick soon," Austin replied as what little colour was left in her face leeched away as they swerved around a bit and the van started to slow down.

The man looked like he was going to say something, but instead turned to face forward as his friend did to look out the front. Emily looked around at everyone as the van slowed further. She knew this might be their only chance at possibly getting out of this mess, but with Austin looking so ill, she wondered if they'd all make it.

Austin leaned in to Jordan and mumbled something and then Jordan leaned in to her and whispered, "She says she can make it, that she _will_ make it. She knows that she needs medical help 'cause her monthlies finished a week ago and that she won't get it here and she really doesn't want to end up dead in a ditch somewhere."

"I don't think any of us want that for her," Emily whispered back as the van came to a halt and four voices raised in furious argument. Emily looked at JJ and Penelope and saw them both watching her, waiting calmly for her signal. The first man barely had a hand on Penelope as he waved the knife around and the woman was doing her best to stay out of the way of his hand. The guy holding JJ had moved the knife away and only had a hand on her arm. As she met her friends eyes, JJ mouthed 'hand is lose'. She nodded slightly to acknowledge this and tuned in to the conversation.

They normally used this interchange because at this late evening hour, going in to the city was normally a smooth, fast ride. But it was clear from what they were saying that a pile-up had happened just ahead and traffic had crawled to a complete halt. The van was boxed in and they might never get another chance.

Penelope had shifted slightly away from the furiously shouting man at her back and was completely clear and as she looked at JJ, she saw the other man let her go entirely in an attempt to calm his comrade down.

She shot a quick look at Teresa, who already knew exactly what she needed to do being closest to the door. She could feel the energy levels rise as they all shifted to be in the best position. She didn't know exactly what they'd find at the van's side, but she knew, with the van boxed in, that all they needed was to get enough people looking their way and they had a chance...and a chance was all they needed. Of course, there was the very real chance that the door was locked and she was about to get one of her closest friends either seriously hurt or else killed outright as an example to the rest of them not to try anything again, but if they didn't try at all, they were never going to know and things could _always_ get much, much worse.

Teresa lifted her taped hands, hooked them around the handle of the van...and yanked back hard.

End-

**A/N: I know it's evil to just leave it there, so I'll just slink off now and come back with another chapter as soon as I can.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: As you can see, I'm trying to make up for slow updating and all my absences in the last few months by updating as frequently as I can manage. Apologies if you don't get an update til after the weekend; I actually have plans for once. ;)**

**HPforever-after, I swear you read like Reid-fast; I swear I'd only just loaded the chapter and your review came in. Thanks so much for the boost you gave to my ego in getting in so fast with your lovely review. For the rest of you, thank you so much to miaa29, Hazmatt and Wtiger5…you will all just have to wait and see about Austin. ;)**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 8

"Right then, I've got a message from SSAIC Hotchner regarding vehicles. They'll be here in about ten minutes and they are bringing extra vehicles for our usage. We need to be out the front and ready to go as soon as they arrive because we are going to be working from the Baltimore field office and they don't want to stop longer than they have to."

"Why are they coming here?" Phil asked.

"Apparently one of their techs was able to trace the vehicles that were the most likely matches to the vehicle used in the kidnapping. Most of them have been cleared but the last was seen here in Baltimore. They are coming to follow that up and see where it leads. My guess is that if we catch a break, they want to be on hand to follow it up immediately and this city is closer than Quantico to the last known siting."

Alex nodded and they fell in behind Clare as she walked across the large open room towards the door at the other end of the airport. Stepping outside was a shock for all of them.

"When did it have time to start snowing? We were only in there for five minutes."

Cassie shot Mirkal a pitying look and patted his shoulder as he pulled out his extra jacket. Though he'd lived in the US for the last 10 years, he originally hailed from New Delhi, India, where it never snowed; it simply got cold. He had once admitted to the team that the entire reason he had settled in LA had to do with the warmer climate and lack of snow; he was not a fan of the powdery white substance that fell from the sky.

They'd all teased him at one time or another about his dislike of snow and they had all done their best to help him come to an understanding of just how much fun snow could be, but despite all that he was adamant; he just _didn't_ like snow.

They weren't outside more than 5 minutes when the first of a long line of black cars appeared. The first two cars and the last two slipped out of the line of cars to pull even with them while the rest continued on to park further down the pick-up area.

The passenger door on the first car opened and they watched a man get out and open up the back door of the car and they continued watching in surprise as a small boy scrambled down out of the vehicle.

"Henry, we've had this conversation before. You don't take your seatbelt off; you wait for me or for your mama to do it for you."

"But daddy, mama's not here and I need to go potty real bad."

The driver got out of the car closest to them and they could immediately hear the sound of a couple of babies crying. He too went and opened up the back door of his car and a couple of young boys scrambled out.

"Hey Hotch, you want me to take the boys with Henry to the bathroom?"

"If you could that would help hugely Will, thanks. Are you guys okay to go with Will and Henry." The two boys exchanged a look before looking back up. "I promise that I will be right here when you come back out. I'm not going anywhere, not for any reason."

The boys exchanged another look before hugging him around the waist and then following Will into the airport terminal. He peered into the back of the suddenly silent car and smiled just slightly. Brad was there with a bottle of formula in each hand and was feeding the girls at the same time. The sight of that warmed something inside that had been frozen solid since Emily was taken; enough so that he was able to turn to the team waiting for an explanation.

"I'm SSAIC Aaron Hotchner; call me Hotch. Sorry about all this, but we didn't have time to find sitters; it was just easier to pile the kids into the cars and go."

Alex stepped forward and held out his hand. "SSAIC Alex Jackson; we've spoken on the phone."

Aaron nodded. "I'll introduce my team properly when we reach the Baltimore office. The only reason we stopped at all was for the children's sake."

"That's good. Are they ready for us?"

"More than; we have all the resources and people-power we need to make this work and then some. All we need to do is get there."

"Excellent. We only received part of the fax you sent thanks to the storm. Have there been any new developments?"

"None just yet. Kevin is still combing through the traffic camera footage that has been sent to him in order to figure out where the van went once it hit the city limits. Hopefully he'll be successful but if not, well, we don't really have a plan."

"Right then; so who's in charge?"

"That was the one thing my boss was adamant on. We are to follow your lead in all things; we're just far too close to the situation. I'll warn you now though, we'll be riding you all hard to push things forward. None of us will just let this one happen as it happens. We want our women back too much."

"That's understandable. However, my team comes first for me so if you ride us too hard, we will be having words. You aren't the only ones who want to crack this, and fast, but I won't let you hurt anyone in the process."

"That's probably a good thing. If we get them back at the expense of someone innocent of the situation, Emily will have my hide and then some."

"Emily?"

"My wife. We sent her information and that of the other ladies through with the rest of the info. Didn't you get it?"

"Like I said, the fax was interrupted due to the storm we were skirting so we missed the bio's. We'll go over everything when we get to the station."

He nodded and turned to Brad as the doctor appeared with both girls. He took India and settled her to his shoulder and began to burp her much as Brad was doing with Chloe when Will returned with the boys.

He correctly interpreted the anxiety he could see on the boys faces. "Didn't I say I'd be right here when you returned?"

They nodded with wide eyes and scrambled back into the car as the wind whipped up little snow flurries. He tucked the blanket a little closer around India's body as she burped loudly and praised her softly as he tucked her back into the car seat. He left Brad doing the same with Chloe and indicated two vehicles behind him.

"We should go and get this thing moving. Every moment we stand here is a moment where eight women I hold in the highest regard are in the hands of the unknown. We need to go and change that."

"I agree," Alex said as he nodded to his team. He smiled just slightly as Mirkal attempted to bolt with his three heavy bags in hand, knowing the warmth of the car was nearby. "We'll follow you to the station and we'll do our best to crack this wide open before disaster truly has a chance to strike."

Aaron nodded agreement and climbed back behind the wheel, waiting only long enough for the other team to load up before he pulled away from the airport and started the trek across the city.

It was almost 20 minutes later that they reached the field office. The storm was really raging by that point, so they moved quickly into the building and completed introductions while Will and Brad saw to their guest ID badges and those of the children.

"So this is half of my team. SSA's David Rossi and Derek Morgan and Dr Spencer Reid." He gestured first to the three men standing on his right and then turned to gesture towards Kevin. "This is TA Kevin Lynch. He doesn't work for my team specifically; his wife is our normal technical analyst and was kidnapped with the other women so he's stepped into her shoes in the interests of finding her asap.

"Then you've got Will LaMontagne and Brad Anderson. Will's wife JJ is a permanent member of my team and Brad's wife Kelly is firstly my wife's maternity replacement and will later stay on as JJ's maternity replacement. Then you have my son Jack and my nanny Carrie's son Toby and the babies; two are mine and the other is Morgan's."

Alex nodded around to everyone and started introducing his team. "This is SSA Phil De Tritt. He is my right hand man and has been my primary for accumulating the letters in this case, as well as liaising with the various law enforcement agencies across the country as they send in the information they have on their investigations into their local disappearances. I definitely couldn't have done this without his help.

"SSA Cassie Alongee is the team's linguistics expert and handwriting analyst."

"We'll set you up with Reid and the two of you can work on that." Cassie looked Reid over and raised an eyebrow as she nodded cautiously. Aaron smothered a genuine smile. "Trust me, he's a lot smarter than he looks."

"Hey!"

Everyone laughed and some of the terrible tension that had been floating around for the last few hours eased a bit.

Alex finished chuckling and continued. "SSA Sampson Bates is our medical expert."

"Medical expert," Derek said doubtfully as he shifted Ben on his shoulder.

Sampson grinned engagingly as he pulled his long, thick brown curls back from his face and tied his hair up. "Not just like, you get shot and need patching up, medical. I'm a fully trained counsellor as well so I ensure the teams mental health is always on track. When you handle the types of cases we do, week in week out, sometimes with little movement for months, you need someone who can listen to you vent and help you safely deal with feelings of frustration, anxiety and grief. Much as your Dr Reid would do for all of you."

"Actually, I'm not a medical expert at all. I hold in Mathematics, Chemistry and Engineering and B.A.s in Psychology and Sociology and I'm currently working on my B.A. in Philosophy. I _don't_ do medical."

Alex and his team gaped openly at the young man in the wheelchair who had just firmly put Sampson in his place.

"Kid, we really need to get Austin back for you; that was only just short of abrupt."

Reid shrugged and muttered, "No one wants Austin back more than me," before he turned his chair out to face the window.

Jack followed him over to the window and patted his shoulder. "I want Austin back too, cause she's lots of fun like mummy and reminds me of sunshine and smiles too."

Aaron swallowed as pride in his son welled up as Reid smiled slightly at Jack and nodded agreement as the child took his hand. Toby wandered over to stand on his other side and the three became immersed in watching the snow fall.

Alex cleared his throat and asked in a slightly husky voice. "Is Dr Reid for real or is he just joshing with us?"

Dave said dryly, "Some days I think we all wish he _were_ joshing with us; unfortunately it's all true, as is the IQ of 187, the reading speed of 20000 words per minute and the eidetic memory. It's truly sad how some days I feel so dumb even though I know I'm not."

Everyone chuckled again and Alex continued on with the introductions. "SA Clare Fielding is in charge of all our travel needs including, but not limited to, flights, car hire, hotels and where we eat. She's an absolute genius."

"How are you at planning honeymoons?" Dave asked only half in jest.

Clare grinned. "That was actually my specialty before I decided to change fields so when we get your lady back, I'd be happy to sit down with both of you."

He blinked in surprise, then nodded his thanks and put his hands in his pockets as a thoughtful look came over his face.

Alex gestured at the last two men standing with them. "SA Eric Winterfields is a good agent and genuine smart guy and all-rounder."

"Not quite as smart as your doctor but I get by," he added softly as he shifted back a step. Well aware of his shyness, the last guy stepped just slightly to the side and in front of him, drawing all eyes.

"This is our technical analyst, Mirkal Renhwah. He keeps us updated with all the very best and latest toys and types faster than anyone else I've ever met."

Mirkal lifted a hand in a wave as Aaron nodded around at everyone. "I'll say it for everyone; thank you so much for coming over here to help us get our better halves back. It means more than we will ever be able to adequately put into words."

"If I were in your position, I'd be hoping another team would come to do the same for us so truly, it isn't a bother at all. And besides, you had already agreed to help us out; how could we not then do the same when you have need of our assistance?" They all fell silent for a minute as understanding flowed before Alex continued, "We should head upstairs and get set up. The faster we get into this, the faster we'll find your ladies."

In complete agreement, they all turned to the lifts as one body. Two lifts and three floors later, they walked into a near silent command centre where all eyes were glued to a massive tv screen taking up half of a nearby wall.

Pulling even with the agent at the back of the room, Aaron showed his badge and nodded at the screen. He didn't have to ask.

"A pileup on an interchange just outside of New York City caught an internationally wanted terrorist. A traffic helicopter caught the crash itself and has continued to record everything since."

They all moved to focus in on what was being reported.

"If you are just joining us, we are coming to you live from the air over one of New York City's quietest interchanges, where an international terrorist wanted in over half a dozen countries has just been apprehended by the local chapter of the FBI after a 15 car pileup has virtually closed all 6 of the inbound city lanes." The camera view shifted from the mangled pile of cars to pan over the massive line of cars that was continuing to lengthen. "This accident happened barely 10 minutes ago and already you can see the traffic is backing up for at least a mile…wait a second, Jim are you seeing this?"

A second later, the camera zoomed in on a van sitting behind a sports car. A 4WD sat on the one side, a couple of motorbikes showing two bikies in the process of turning from their conversation to look at the van were behind it and a large truck ran along the side of them all.

And as they all watched the camera zoom in on the van, they saw the sliding door on the side closest to the truck open up and several women all but fell out the side as a man appeared right behind them brandishing a large knife, a look of utter fury on his face.

"Penelope!"

"JJ!"

"Teresa!"

"Look out!"

End-

**A/N: Stay tuned to this author for more on this breaking news story…**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Do you have any idea how annoying it is to go to bed feeling utterly exhausted from a horrendously busy week and then to put your head down on the pillow and have the next chapter (this one now) chasing around and around in your head? So much so that you just _know_ that if you don't get it down at that moment, you don't stand even the slightest chance of actually getting it even the tiniest bit to that close as good the next morning? Well I do and its annoying.**

**The first third of this chapter was written while I lay in bed Friday night trying desperately in vain to sleep and finding that I just couldn't until I got it down on my notes function on my phone. Well I guess it's good for all of you at least; you'll get it today versus tomorrow.**

**Reviews are like gold and brain food all rolled into one. The gold makes me feel richer still and the brain food helps keep my creative juices flowing. Reviews from my faithful followers are even more precious still. Huge, HUGE thanks go out to the wonderful miaa29, Hazmatt and HPforever-after for this chapter and also to the amazing x-MJ-x for reviewing the first two chapters of Aftermath. I'm swear I'm really not evil; I just can't seem to help myself (cue wicked chuckle).**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 9

"How soon can we be in the air?"

"What?"

"Focus Kevin; how soon can we be in the air?"

Kevin eyes were glued to the screen and he didn't answer. Aaron was just about to spin him around when Clare interrupted.

"We can't fly."

He rounded on her with a snarl as Reid whimpered behind him and Dave shouted, "Way to go Emily; kick him again harder!"

"What the hell do you mean by that?" he demanded as the room erupted in cheers and Alex stepped into his path.

Clare had paled considerably in the face of his anger but her chin came up and she replied calmly, "All flights have just been cancelled. Not by the airport but by the FAA. That means that even if you can find an airport official to give you the go-ahead to fly from this airport, it would still be illegal, the pilots would lose their licences and you would cop a hefty find and possible suspension from work. There is a blizzard raging all around us in case you weren't already aware; we aren't going anywhere by _any_ means."

He felt like howling with fury and despair; how he wanted to strike out at her for this injustice. But knowing Emily would kick his ass from here to California and back again, he reigned in his anger, hissed at her in frustration and turned back to the events unfolding on the screen in front of him and too far away for him to do anything but watch in fear.

_Hold on Emily; I'll be there as soon as I can._

New Section

The plan had been that while Teresa was opening the van door, JJ and Penelope were to dive out of it as quickly as they could while the rest of them covered their backs. What no one had anticipated was exactly how quickly the guy who had been holding Penelope would react.

As JJ shoved Penelope out the door and went to slide out as Teresa was doing the same, someone caught a handful of her hair and yanked backwards hard, causing her to yelp in pain. She saw a flash of light on steel and prepared for the additional pain to come...instead she heard a sharp snap and an agonised scream behind her and the pressure on her hair was released. Less than a second later she felt a hard shove on her back.

"Move it, hurry," Jordan urged.

"What did you do?" she asked as she moved quickly down the side of the truck.

"I kicked his wrist and broke it. Hopefully that'll distract him long enough for everyone else to get out."

"Are they right behind us?"

"God I hope so," she said too softly for anyone to hear her as she cleared the end of the truck and all but fell into the arms of a big, burly officer as she tripped over her own feet in her exhaustion and relief at being free.

New Section

Jordan had seen the need before Emily had and had reacted accordingly and though Jordan's actions had changed the plan just slightly, it wasn't enough for her to be worried about it. She watched with relief as Carrie slithered out the door right behind the other woman, leaving her with Kelly to help her with Austin. Kelly, who still wasn't supposed to lift anything heavier than a feather and whose back had been in painful spasms for the last hour due to the lack of support. Add to that they were still bound at the wrists and Austin had just lost consciousness and they had a huge problem.

But Kelly clearly had a solution and was already pushing the younger woman towards the open door.

"Go out first and let her fall over your shoulder; take her in a firemen's carry. Hurry!"

Emily spared a brief glance for their captors. The two in the front had already bailed and though the two in the back with them were distracted over the one's clearly broken wrist, she knew that distraction was bound to end at any moment.

She slid to the door and used the edge to propel her onto her feet, doing her best to ignore the pins and needles sensation causing her to whimper slightly. Her exhaustion levels were climbing up with every second she was upright and suddenly all she wanted to do was vomit but she pushed her uncomfortable situation out of her head and watched as Kelly lined Austin up. Between them, they managed to get her up and on to her shoulder without too much difficulty but without hands she knew keeping her there was going to be almost impossible.

"Go; I can't get out until you do and I promise I'll be right behind you steadying her."

She nodded and turned, beginning to move off when another yelp similar to JJ's previously filled the air. She turned back towards the sound to see the guy who appeared to be behind the whole kidnapping attempt trying to pull a struggling Kelly back into the vehicle with him.

Praying like mad that she wouldn't either dump Austin on the ground or hit Kelly with the move, she pulled her right leg up and snapped it out hard and fast.

She hadn't really been that sure that it would work, so it was with complete shock that she watched her foot connect with his nose...and it exploded like a ripe fruit left far too long in the sun. She was frozen into immobility as she watched his hands come up to cover his nose as he fell back and howled in agony and Kelly lunged forward and away from his grasp. But as adrenalin filled her system she shifted back into action and followed in the steps of the her friends.

They somehow managed to keep Austin off the ground as they stumbled clear of the truck to see that police and FBI agents were beginning to swarm around the other women. She exchanged a relieved look with Kelly but then started in surprise as a familiar face appeared around the unconscious woman in her arms.

"Cooper?"

"Whoa, sorry; didn't mean to startle you. You didn't think you could come to New York and not rate a visit though right? Listen, can I take her off your shoulders and hand her over to the waiting paramedics for you?"

Emily nodded relieved agreement as Cooper eased the woman off her shoulder and onto a nearby stretcher. And as a wave of utter exhaustion swept over her and sent her vision to brightly coloured streamers, lying down suddenly didn't seem like such a bad idea.

New Section

Marnie watched the children laughing and playing in the square and the women sitting off to the side watching over them while they embroidered a large blanket she had already been informed was going to be their wedding present to her; a tradition from when they first arrived.

But what really had her attention as the sun warmed her face despite the chill in the air was the conversation occurring in the room behind her.

She had been very, _very_ careful to guard the information she was giving out as she pretended to integrate into the society she had been thrown into against her will. She didn't know what would and wouldn't limit her as she gathered information that might help her to escape so she pretended to have a quiet disposition and she employed the 'sponge method' her dad had always accused her of having. Feeling a sharp pain in her heart, she carefully squashed the thought of what her father must be going through with his only child being missing. If she wallowed in despair, she would end up missing something vital here. She'd already ascertained that she was completely surrounded on all sides by mountainous, rocky terrain and dangerous wild animals but she also knew that the men in the camp had ways of leaving that kept them safe so she watched quietly and she waited for the moment she would see something that would help her.

The biggest secret she'd kept to herself had to do with the languages she could speak and understand. To most people, the conversation behind her would be gibberish and to this end she was doing her best to stay calm and not show outwardly her growing excitement.

The man that had kidnapped her had radioed in that he was picking up another eight women for his personal harem and that he and the three men with him would be back by sun-up. That had been over six hours ago and all four men were missing. They'd had no contact with any of them and they had no idea as to what might possibly have delayed them.

The hope she garnered from this allowed her to laugh at the children's antics. For if those men had been picked up by authorities, there was a chance that she would be rescued and even if that wasn't the case, she now knew that there _was_ a way to communicate with the outside world.

She settled more comfortably against the wall as the conversation escalated to shouting and hugged her hope to her as she continued to listen.

_Soon. Soon I'll be home; I promise daddy._

New Section

His ringing phone caused him to jump slightly in surprise. The majority of the room was working in some way or another, but that work was quiet, muted and the energy pulsed as if pushed down by a lid that was just waiting for someone or something to lift it off before the explosion could occur.

He turned away from the main room and into the meeting room their two teams had been given to continue working the profiles as he pulled out his phone. Or at least, Alex's team continued to work the profiles. The rest of them were glued to the news out of New York in the hopes of gleaning any information on what the hell was going on.

When the traffic helicopter had left the van to attempt to follow the two men who had been in the back of the van, the hopes had been that they would quickly return to the main road where all the action was happening. Instead, when the view had returned to the one they all desperately wanted to see, attention had been caught on the explosion of one of the cars involved in the original pileup. And since then, no further information had been forthcoming. It was as if the news of eight women freeing themselves after being kidnapped from several states away wasn't of as much significance to the audience at large as the large fireball currently spreading to engulf three vehicles and endanger others. It was incredibly frustrating for all of them because local weather reports were indicating that they might be snowed in for the next two days.

And no one wanted that less than him.

"Hotchner," he said distractedly as he watched Kevin scroll through the news channels in the hopes of finding _something_ that would tell them _anything_.

"Hey babe. You still breathin' there?"

"Emily?"

End-

**A/N: I know it's taking a while to get to what everyone really wants to know but I really felt the need to be detailed here. Hopefully you'll have all the answers you want in the next chapter, so stay tuned to this author for more...**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: The question has been asked by the wonderful HPforever-after as to which Cooper made a guest appearance at the end of chapter 8. Answer: Detective Cooper from Lo-Fi and Mayhem. His partner Detective Brustin will also be appearing. I figured if the girls were going to be in New York without their men for protection after such a traumatising day, I was going to give them a couple of familiar faces. For the girls who don't know them, their friends trust will be enough.**

**I am loving my reviews lately and as a result, loving you, my loyal reviewers. After posting just the other night, I can already say a huge THANK YOU in abundance to Hazmatt, HGRHfan35 for chapters 7 & 8 (no Kelly isn't pregnant and I promise that I am typing as fast as I can), greengirl82 for chapters 6, 7 & 8 and HPforever-after; you guys truly make it worth having no free time because it is all taken up with the typing. I would also love to send out a huge THANK YOU to the gorgeous x-MJ-x for reviewing the last two chapters of Aftermath; your encouragement means the absolute world to me one and all.**

**I would also like to give a great big sing-out to anyone alerting to my stories or me as an author. I do appreciate all of you and if you ever want to see your name here in this section, all you need to do is leave me a review and it shall be done. **

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 10

"Emily?"

All heads whipped around to look at him as he sank back against the wall in relief. The teasing in her next words had him sinking down to sit on the floor as tears started to roll down his cheeks and Jack bounded over.

"You got someone else calling you 'babe' that I need to know about?"

He swallowed and shook his head despite knowing she wouldn't see the gesture, a reluctant smile tilting his lips upwards for the first time in almost a day. "No," he said softly. "Only you call me that beloved heart."

Jack tugged at his arm and whispered, "Me talk to mummy?"

Aaron shifted his legs out and tumbled Jack into his lap as he pressed a kiss to the side of his son's head. "Hang on a second Jack; I'll finish talking to mummy in a second and then you can talk to her to your hearts' content. Em?"

"I heard that. We can talk privately later. For now I'll take the time to reassure Jack because he needs it. And when I see you next, you'd better have a few hours free for my every whim to be met because I need comforting so desperately right now it isn't funny."

"I understand that kitten and I promise you it shall be done. For now though, I'm going to put you on speaker so that Jack can say hello and so that the others can get the low down on all of you."

"An excellent plan and I'll do the same here so whenever you're ready just let us know."

New Section

"I'm not going anywhere," she whispered too softly for anyone to hear as she pressed the speaker button on her own phone. She spotted one of the nurses walking into the room as everyone except Austin gathered around her. Seven women on the one hospital bed may have been pushing it, but they were all just a little clingy after what they had been through and they were all in just a little shock over what had happened to Austin.

The woman raised an eyebrow at all the women on the bed but she didn't comment, just held up the papers in her hand and mouthed, 'Want them now?' They all nodded agreement and so she handed out the doctor's reports on their overall conditions. Emily had just finished reading hers when a familiar voice broke through her introspection.

"Mummy? Are you there?"

She smiled at the question and dropped her head back to the pillow behind her. "Yes baby, I'm right here," she said softly in a voice suddenly thick with tears.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm much better after hearing your voice just now. Are _you_ okay?"

"I was scared mummy. A bad man had you and we didn't know where you were."

"Mmm, yes, I imagine that would have been very scary both for you _and_ for daddy but you know what?"

"What mummy?"

"I wasn't alone this time and we all protected each other."

"Oh. That's good right?"

"Yes, that's very good."

"Okay. Mummy, is Carrie alright?"

She watched Carrie lose her battle with tears at that question asked in such a small, uncertain voice.

"Hey Jack-Jack. Did you and Toby take care of each other while I was gone?"

Jack answered "Yes," at the same time Toby cried, "Mummy?"

Between them they spent several minutes just calming the boys down, their distress tearing at all of them until they were calm once more.

"Hey can you guys do Carrie and I a _huge_ favour?"

"What's that Miss Emily?"

Emily smiled to hear Toby fall back to his best manners despite just calling her 'Emily' almost since the beginning.

"Carrie and I aren't allowed to drink anything but water for the next few days because our doctor says it's bad for us. So can the two of you go and drink something fizzy for us?"

Carrie hadn't lost her quick thinking in the trauma of the day and she quickly jumped in with her agreement, her understanding clear on her face. "Mmm; I'm really craving some lemon soft drink. Can you do that for me Toby? Right now so I don't want it any longer and get myself into trouble with the doctor by drinking it anyway?"

It took them another two minutes to convince the boys that they were completely safe where they were and that the situation wasn't going to change if they left the room. Someone by the name of Clare took them out of the room they were in and for several long seconds there was silence as everyone gathered their thoughts.

Emily sighed softly in defeat as she realised what she was going to have to do next. "Reid, are you there?"

"I'm only here if Austin isn't dead."

The girls exploded into a fit of giggles at that surly reply and Emily quickly waved them down. "Sorry Reid, but that sounded just like Jack when he's tired and not getting his way."

Carrie laughed harder and Emily vaguely heard a snort of laughter from Aaron that was clearly quickly smothered. "Goodness, you're right; it really did."

Realising that Reid might be getting the wrong impression, Emily jumped in quickly.

"Just so that you all know, all _eight_ of us are alive and for the most part relatively unscathed. But I know there were news cameras and knowing too how smart Kevin is, I know that you all would have seen the footage from when we first exited the van. Who else is there with you?"

"There is a team here from the California field office; your case was picked up by them because it is a large part of a serial case they have been working for the last several months."

Her heart quickening as a troubling thought occurred to her, Emily pushed aside that knowledge in light of what needed to be done now. There was time enough to deal with any issues that arose later.

"So when do you all arrive?"

"Not for another three days," Aaron said morosely. "We got a lead and went to Baltimore and then got snowed in by a blizzard that is still raging outside. We're stuck and kicking ourselves because the airports are still open in DC even if the snow _is_ still falling there."

"I'm sure we can all kick your asses later for that bit of stupidity; particularly since it means I now _definitely_ have to deliver this bit of news over the phone instead of in person like I would have preferred. Now, Reid, Austin is alright physically but emotionally you are going to have to learn to be her rock."

"I saw her bleeding when you put her up on your shoulders. Had she been stabbed?"

"The only ones who were anywhere near enough to the knives to potentially end up in that condition were Penelope and JJ and they've come out of this with only a few small cuts; none of which needed stitches.

"No, Austin haemorrhaged internally due to an ectopic pregnancy. The doctors ascertained this was due to a combination of extreme stress and the fact that the baby got too big; the tube it was in ruptured causing her to nearly completely bleed out before she went in to surgery and they repaired the damage."

The silence at the other end of the phone was near deafening and only broken by Reid as he began to sob and by Dave who had obviously moved to offer him comfort. A chorus of condolences could be heard at the other end of the line from the rest of the guys and probably by the other team as well. The girls all reached out to touch each other in a show of solidarity and support. It hadn't happened to them, but they were all _family_ and so it definitely hurt them all because they knew that two of their own were now hurting deeply.

When the sobs had eased, they distantly heard Reid ask Dave a question. Dave then came closer to ask the question for him.

"Does Austin know?"

Emily watched as Teresa relaxed completely on hearing her fiancé's voice. "Yes she does. We were all with her when the doctor arrived to tell her the news. She said we could stay and we stood our ground when the doctor tried to kick us out anyway. Then I very nearly _kicked_ him when he told her what had happened and I realised that he'd wanted her to be alone to hear that news. Anyway, he left and we stayed for another hour after that just comforting her and letting her talk it all out. I think it helped just a little that there wasn't a thing she could have done differently and that even if you'd gotten her to the hospital before she lost as much blood as she had, she still would have lost the baby."

Reid's voice was watery in the background and Dave had to repeat his next question as well. "Is anyone with Austin at the moment?"

Teresa closed her eyes and rested her head on her bent knees for a few seconds before lifting her head as she exhaled slowly. "No one is with her right at the moment. We all got booted out and told to rest which is about when Em remembered she still had her mobile and so we came back to the ward we have been placed on and called all of you."

They could all hear the relief in Dave's voice as he said softly, "Hey beautiful. How're you holding up?"

She smiled slightly. "I think I was actually doing better before I heard your voice…now I just want to cry."

Jordan and JJ wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her. Emily smiled as Carrie's head came to rest on her shoulder and Kelly shifted back into the pillows and linked arms with her. Penelope reached out on both sides to the girls closest to her and touched what she could in the way of comfort.

Smiles were exchanged all around and Teresa continued, "I'm definitely reaching desperation levels on needing a hug asap but then I think we are all at that point and since we have each other at the moment…"

"So who exactly is there at the moment?" Derek asked anxiously and they all just _knew_ who he was really asking about.

"Hey hotstuff. Everyone is here except Austin. The nurses keep frowning at us because we are all squished onto Em's bed."

"So is Austin alright?" Reid demanded anxiously.

Emily sighed quietly. "There is a big long convoluted response that boils down to 'yes and no' for more reasons than I actually have time for here knowing my battery is as low as it is. She's probably about as well as you are at the moment having just heard the news and I'll bet she'll be better for seeing you when you eventually get here. We _all_ promise to take the very best of care of her until you do. Is that alright?"

His sigh sounded reluctant. "I suppose it's just going to _have_ to be alright."

They listened as Reid wheeled his chair away from the group at the other end.

Suddenly more tired than she knew what to do with, Emily held up the phone. "Someone else take this for a while. It feels like it weighs a tonne all of a sudden."

Penelope reached for the handset as a smile blossomed. "You do look a little peaked darling."

Emily shot her a dark look and got a fake innocent one in return. Deciding it wasn't worth paying attention to, she closed her eyes and snuggled down into the warmth coming from the women on either side of her.

_This is almost as good as having Aaron holding me…_

New Section

A chorus of soft 'aww's' suddenly came from the other end of the line.

"Emily just fell asleep between one second and the next, poor love."

"Not surprising considering she was so instrumental in getting us out of there. She looks so cute and peaceful."

Alex tuned out the chorus of masculine chuckles and the softly bantered conversation as he walked to the window. He shoved his shaking hands in his pockets and did his best to pretend there was nothing wrong.

For a good five minutes of the conversation he hadn't recognised the woman's voice at the other end. Not the soft huskiness of it or the motherly tones that had soothed even _his_ adult psyche for a few minutes as she did her son. Then Clare had taken the boys from the room and she'd obviously swallowed the emotion she was feeling in order to impart that piece of completely horrific news to Dr Reid who was even now still crying in the far corner of the room.

And suddenly he knew that the woman he'd loved and lost all those years ago was the same woman now married to SSAIC Aaron Hotchner…and the vindictive little section of his mind he never paid any attention to whatsoever wondered if he had even the slightest hope of hurting her as much as she had him.

End-

**A/N: So I started out editing this chapter this morning with the aim of getting it out by 9.30am and then for a second posting to occur in the next 12 hours from there but since then I have been absolutely slammed with work so unfortunately this is it today. I'll get crack-a-lacking on the next chapter straight away though so hopefully you won't have to wait too long for my next offering.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sometimes I hate being in my head because I struggle to keep up with what I am thinking and getting it down on virtual paper in time to not forget any of it. Apologies if this chapter is a little all over the place as a result. :s**

**Response times to my chapters seem to be decreasing with every chapter I write. Having a review in just under 20 minutes is totally gratifying and heart-warming, even considering what it was saying. I'm sorry you were close to being right wtiger5, but I promise that I shall not leave them without. They are just too gorgeous for that trauma to be all they are left with forever. As to the ass whooping, I think the ladies will already have that in hand but your words definitely inspired me. HGRHfan35, I am definitely loving this story and am maybe just a little bit deliberately drawing it out, but there is a purpose to it in the end. All will be revealed. Hazmatt, all the answers to your many questions will be coming in the next few chapters so definitely stay tuned.**

**I am doing my utmost to churn these out as fast as I can but I do have a social life (of a sort) and unfortunately I do have to produce a little work every now and again so my bosses don't think I'm sitting here doing nothing but write all day so I apologise that you are only getting a chapter a day. I would however love to thank you all for your encouragement and support; this chapter is DEFINITELY dedicated to YOU!**

**I would also like to give a great big sing-out to anyone alerting to my stories or me as an author. I do appreciate all of you and if you ever want to see your name here in this section, all you need to do is leave me a review and it shall be done. **

**As to Alex, you'll just have to wait and see. It will definitely all be revealed but before that, I think I'll fill in a little bit of Emily's past; just as a teaser. But not in this chapter, hee hee. **

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 11

Considering their urgency in getting to New York, leaving after only a day and a half because they used their clout to get a plane and a runway cleared as soon as the FAA ungrounded all planes and with no one dead through frustration and anxiety was an utter miracle and a complete blessing for the guys who had been stuck in Baltimore.

The flight itself had seemed to take forever and more than one man had snarled at another as they all paced and ran into each other frequently. And considering the team from California also appeared to be on edge for reasons unknown, the tension should have been enough to explode the plane to nothing; yet somehow they had survived the trip.

The car trip from the airport to the hospital was lengthy because of extensive traffic jams, regular traffic being it's normal busy self and the detours that came with works being carried out and a couple of crashes that were part and parcel of big-city life.

Suffice it to say they were all ready to scream by the time they reached the hospital.

New Section

Marnie stumbled down the steep set of stairs but wasn't given the time to find her feet as she was dragged along. The guy who had come to collect her hadn't said anything. He'd simply grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away from the group of women she'd been having lunch with. And from the surprise she'd seen on their faces, she knew nothing about this was normal.

They got to the bottom of the stairs and he turned them down a corridor that was badly lit and damp besides until they reached a door at the end. He pushed it open, pulled her through and she blinked in the sudden bright light, blinded momentarily to her surroundings though her captor clearly was not as he continued to move them forward. Then she was spun around and she was left blinking in surprise as she came face to face with the man who had originally taken her.

Her body's immediate response was to flee but her brain was busy taking in information and squashed the urge down flat. This was far too interesting an opportunity to start fighting for her life now.

"You will to be his wife. You will to tend his injuries and make him better."

Then the man stalked away and she was left alone with _him_. The thought of waiting a few minutes, knocking him out and making a run for it flew through her head but she knew that even if the door at the top of the stairs she'd been dragged through wasn't now locked, there would definitely be too many people outside the door who would be willing to hurt her to teach her a lesson. Besides that, she didn't know yet where she needed to go to get out of this nightmare place and while she might be able to hide, she had no doubt that the men and even some of the women here would know every hiding place she might think of.

She swallowed a momentary fear and looked at the equipment she'd been left with. The only thing she could see that might possibly help her were the small scissors sitting beside a roll of gauze on the shiny silver tray. She'd have to be very careful though; if they counted the equipment and noticed something was missing, it might all be over before it even really had a chance to begin.

Taking a hesitant step forward, she watched him flinch in pain and felt the slightest moment of sympathy but like her urge to flee now, she squashed it flat as she thought of how he'd hurt her and after swallowing hard a couple of times she asked softly, "What's your name?"

He looked at her out of puffy eyes, rimmed with a white crust no doubt caused by crying excessively in his pain. For several long moments she didn't think he would answer her but then he said in equally soft tones, "My name is Najeeb."

She attempted a smile despite loathing him for doing what he'd done. After all, he looked young and if she could put him at ease he would hopefully share with her something that would help. What she wasn't going to do was give him her name if he didn't already have it.

"Looks like someone did a number on your nose." At his look of complete confusion, she added, "Someone broke your nose really badly."

She watched the confusion slowly melt away as she wet a cloth and started to carefully wipe away the blood. He flinched again but stayed still otherwise and a few seconds later he said, "She was truly magnificent; a glorious sight to see. I think I will make you my second wife and I will make her my first one. I know it isn't meant to be that way, that because I chose you first, you are fated to be my first wife, but there is just something about her that I feel would make her the best choice to run my harem. Do you mind?"

She took a moment to digest the information he'd just imparted before asking slowly, "Are you saying one of your other…almost-wives broke your nose?"

He nodded vigorously but whimpered pitifully as he lifted a hand to his nose. She gently knocked his hand out of the way and continued to wipe his face. The information he was giving her was gold; it was the only reason she was able to gentle her movements when all she wanted to do was increase his pain a thousand-fold.

"So this other woman must really need to have her rebellious spirits removed before she can be a fit wife for you. Are they doing that now so she doesn't have time to cause dissent and wreak havoc here?"

He shook his head this time and then closed his eyes as his body seemed to hunch in on itself. She did her best to hide her glee at his pain and continued with her ministrations.

"The woman and her friends, the others that I had also chosen for my harem; they all escaped. Once you have made me better, I will be going back to get her. I do not think her friends are appropriate for my home, but she is utterly perfect in every way and I will have her. If you do not resent her for taking your place, perhaps the two of you could be friends?"

Marnie thought what a completely silly question that was as she pretended to nod cautiously. _Perhaps_ they could be friends? Phah! There was no doubt her new friend was going to end up being the very best ally she could possibly find in this god-forsaken place.

Her brain kicked into overdrive as she suggested he close his eyes so she could wipe away the gunk there. As he did that, she took a good look around and thought on what she could sneak out of this room that would help her in her goal of reaching freedom.

New Section

"How long until Reid gets here?"

Emily had hoped that Austin wouldn't ask her that. Telling her that it would be another couple of days before she could see her husband and get the comfort she needed from hearing him say _in person_ that he didn't blame her for what had happened with the baby and so that she could share the other news she had received was something none of them had wanted to do. So they'd decided to only say something if asked.

_Why'd it have to be me here?_

"Honey, we spoke with everyone on the phone yesterday after we were kicked out of your room here and unfortunately they are snowed in to the Baltimore field office."

"Baltimore? What on earth is he doing in Baltimore when I've been kidnapped?"

Emily smothered a smile at the outrage on her friends face. It was the first true emotion other than grief that she had seen and it gave her hope that she was leaving her dark-funk behind.

"They were apparently following a lead in the hopes of coming to our rescue when they got stuck."

Her fierce look eased into one of delight tinged with resignation. "How _long_?"

Emily took a breath, thought a prayer and said as calmly as she could, "Another two days."

"Two days! What the hell was so important that they ended up snowed in…of all the…" her words descended into incoherency and Emily shifted to sit on the edge of the bed and gently stroked her hair, pulling out her soothing, motherly tone of voice as she softly spoke words of comfort until the sobbing eased.

"Aaron sounded like he was pulling his hair out over the whole thing…I just hope he hasn't pulled it all out. I kind of like his hair just the way it is now."

Austin looked at her like she was crazy for a second and then she smiled reluctantly and Emily smiled in return as she held out her hand for Austin to take.

"I'm sorry I shouted at you just now."

"Don't be honey. You have every right to shout about the injustice of it. Trust me when I tell you I left JJ and Penelope plotting an ass whooping of epic proportions and I'm pretty certain I heard Teresa getting in on the act as I was leaving to come and see you. I have no doubt that they'll all probably be working on that when I return. In fact, it was actually why I came to see you. A little birdie told me you can start moving around as long as you stay in your wheelchair so I came to see if you wanted to help us plot."

A gleam of something unholy lit Austin's eyes and she shifted in the bed as if to sit up as Emily reached out to press the call button for the nurse.

"Just try and stop me."

Five minutes later, Emily pushed the chair into a lift and selected the 7th floor.

"So when are they releasing you?"

Emily smiled dryly. "Tomorrow I think. It would probably have been today but the doctor wants to keep us under close monitoring for another day just to be on the safe side after all our tests came back with something kooky in them."

"Kooky." Austin asked as she tipped her head back. "Did you really just use the word kooky?"

She grinned. "I'm blaming constant close proximity to PG on this one."

Austin laughed outright, then groaned in pain as the stitches in her stomach pulled. They exited the lift and walked down to the open ward room they had pretty much appropriated as their own since the only other patient had been discharged just that morning.

The girls looked up as they entered and cheered to see Austin was joining them. An extra chair was pulled up for Emily and they were busily working over a piece of paper when a dry voice said, "What do you reckon Aaron? Do we want to know what they're doing?"

As the girls all turned to stare and hope started to blossom that they weren't seeing things, Aaron shot Dave a grin and said, "Probably best that we don't know considering how they looked when they turned around a moment ago."

When the girls just continued to stare, Derek said in amusement, "By the looks of it they just want to admire us so maybe we should strike poses…"

The rest of what he said was drowned out by the screech of chairs on linoleum and by 6 women moving as fast as humanly possible while two small boys passed them going in the opposite direction.

Emily ignored everything around her except for a set of perfect brown eyes as she ran forward. He lifted his arms to catch her to him but she had other ideas as she grabbed his wrists and shoved him back into the wall.

"You are in soooo much trouble babe."

"You can spank me later kitten."

Her eyes were widening in her shock at his response as she took in the pure wickedness of his grin when he leaned forward to capture her mouth with his own and suddenly nothing else mattered as she melted into him and took all he had to offer.

End-

**A/N: Okay so I know I didn't really answer any more of your myriad of questions but I promise I also haven't forgotten them; it's just taking longer than I thought to get to them. And yes, the rest of the children are nearby; I haven't forgotten about them either.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Whoa. Okay, having trouble with my eyesight today so I apologise if I miss any edits. If I do, please feel free to point them out to me and I'll rectify them soonest.**

**Reviews in abundance! I am SUCH a happy little clam at the moment because my inbox is full of warm fuzzies from a great bunch of wonderful, amazing people I've never met. Greengirl82 , many thanks for reviewing chapter 9. HPforever-after, you get my thanks for reviewing chapters 9 & 10. To Hazmatt, NicknHotchfan, Wtiger5 (no hun, you didn't offend me in the slightest), HGRHfan35 and miaa29 thank you for keeping up with me and letting me know you are there on this wild journey with me. It really does mean a great deal to me.**

**Okay, just a touch more on Alex after a few hints from reviewers; I just want to rectify something. Alex is one of the good guys but even good guys can get hurt emotionally. He is however primarily a good guy and will NOT be doing anything illegal either to Emily or to anyone else. That may not stop him from messing with Emily's relationship with Aaron (whoops :s may have said too much) but you'll all just have to wait and see what that may look like.**

**This chapter is specifically dedicated to Hazmatt and to Wtiger5 for conversations that went on behind the scenes after yesterday's post. I love both of you more than I can say and I will never cease to be grateful that you are both along for this crazy ride with me. **

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 12

Carrie sat and watched everyone around her and though her arms were full of little-boy goodness as she snuggled Toby and Jack in close, she couldn't help but feel a little envious of the women nearby who all had a pair of strong arms wrapped around her at that moment. After all, her arms were wrapped around others, but who was really holding her?

_I guess Aaron and Emily would say it was progress for me to even WANT to be held by a male. But still…_

"Hey, you're sitting over here looking sad and envious by turns and yet you've been rescued and you're safe and warm. So why so sad?"

She started slightly and looked up at the man standing just to the side of her. The colour of his skin made her think of the trip she took in high school to New Delhi with a friend and her family. Some of her fondest memories were of that city but she was still a touch surprised as excitement uncurled slightly in her stomach as she studied his facial features and wondered if maybe it was _him_.

She smiled slightly and looked down at the boys to find they were looking up at her.

"Are you sad mummy?"

She took in her precious son's face and felt her smile change and soften. "No baby, I'm not sad. How could I be when I'm holding such a sweet bundle as the two of you in my arms?"

Toby and Jack shared a happy smile and then squished the life out of her. Noticing something near the entry, Carrie shifted her hold on Toby and lifted him fully onto her lap as she pointed across the room.

"Hey Jack, I think someone's looking for you to say hello."

Jack turned with a look of confusion but his joy was clear enough when he saw who had her arms held out to him.

"Mummy, mummy, mummy!"

Carrie pressed a kiss to the top of Toby's head, watched the family reunion and squashed another moment of sadness. Toby was more than enough for her, what more could she want?

As she shot another glance at the man leaning against the wall nearby and watching her with a knowing look, for just a second she felt her heartbeat quicken and her breath catch…and that momentary excitement deepened just a little bit.

_Maybe it's time to let the violent past go and attempt a future of a different kind..._

New Section

JJ stood and gently stroked her hand through Will's hair. She was completely content to just stand there and bask in the warmth of her family.

Henry had been so distraught when Will had come to hold her that they had put aside their own reunion in favour of comforting him. When he'd sobbed himself to sleep in her arms, she'd put him down on her hospital bed, fully intending to lie down with him in a short period of time and catch a nap of her own. She'd forgotten how tiring it could be to be pregnant and considering the trauma she'd just been through and the distinct and very real threat there had been to her almost 15-week-old foetus, she was definitely overdue for a proper sleep with her family. And despite the narrowness of the bed, she fully intended to talk Will into joining them.

But that would have to wait a little longer. With Henry comfortable nearby, Will had kissed her temple gently, pressed a tender, more intimate kiss to her lips and then he'd sunk to his knees in front of her and had stilled with his forehead resting against their growing child. She'd realised in the last few minutes that telling him about the way the unsub had threatened their child over the phone, where he couldn't immediately see that they were both mostly unharmed, had probably been a bad idea and had left him almost as distressed as their son. This had been proven as he started to cry with his arms wrapped around her.

So she stood and she stroked and she waited for the best moment to suggest they all lie down together and rest.

New Section

Struggling to catch her breath after Derek had stolen it so completely by kissing her senseless, Jordan gasped as she looked around.

"Derek, where's Ben?"

"Take a deep breath love; he's nearby with one of the agents from California. She has a three year old son back home and said nothing was better than cuddles with an infant so she's holding on to him while I reassure my aching heart that you are in one gorgeous piece."

Jordan closed her eyes and dropped her head forward onto her husband's chest and for several long, comforting minutes she simply listened to his heart beating under her ear as he held her close and rubbed her back.

"When can I take you back to my room and ravish you?"

Her startled laughter rang out across the room as she shifted back slightly. "Ravish. Who on earth uses the word ravish anymore?"

He grinned. "I do when I'm trying to hear one of the most beautiful sounds in the world."

She blushed slightly as she smiled. "Oh you totally get points for that answer. As to the leaving; they won't be letting us go until tomorrow. I am apparently slightly anaemic so they have upped my iron levels and are monitoring me to make sure I don't react adversely to the changes. I think they said we'd be free about 10."

"So if we want to up the rating here we need to go find an out-of-the-way storage cupboard, right?"

For the second time in as many minutes, his frantic heartbeat settled at the sound of her laughter; a happy sound that meant he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do.

New Section

She'd decided her husband was a rock and the ass whooping of the century she was planning could just wait…or maybe even disappear altogether.

When she'd seen Kevin, all she could think was, 'ooh I'm going to kill him for not being here yesterday'. Then his arms had closed around her and suddenly none of that was all that important and every other thought had flown out of her head.

She'd been sobbing so hard she could barely breathe; her whole body shaking with the release of the terrible tension and fear she'd experienced. But he hadn't moved an iota, his arms solid and sure around her and not once did the pressure ease up. He'd given no indication that he wasn't 100% comfortable right where he was and his voice was a soft, soothing, constant caress in her ears.

_Yep; definitely a rock._

New Section

"I've decided it's official."

Dave smiled slightly at the firm tone of voice Teresa used as she snuggled even closer into him. Her face was all but lost in his neck and though he was just a little ticklish there, he was ignoring the laughter that bubbled just below the surface as her breathe brushed his neck every time she exhaled. He was too content to be bothered with making her move.

"What's official love?"

She pulled her head back to look at him, a slight smile tugging her lips up. "Virginia is a dangerous place for me to live."

He frowned at that, not liking the implications at all, but seeing that she did have a valid point if he compared their lives together both before and after she moved to be close to him. Not wanting to ask, but knowing he needed to, he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he said carefully, "Is it too dangerous for you?"

She looked startled as she gave him really good eye contact for a few interminable moments and then she vigorously shook her head. "No Dave, no! Not at all. I love you more than anything and I'm _not_ for a second going anywhere else. No, I just meant to make a note of it; I didn't think for a second you'd think I was seriously thinking of leaving. I would never…"

Deciding she'd reassured him enough for his heart to begin to race for a completely different reason, he cut her off with another of the deep, drugging kisses she seemed to like the most.

New Section

"You keep shuddering slightly in my arms. Are you cold Kel?"

Kelly shook her head and closed her eyes. More than anything, right in that moment all she wanted to do was just continue to stand here and bask in the warmth of the body wrapped around hers, his familiar, wonderful scent filling her nostrils and driving away the stench of fear of her trauma and the bleach of her hospital surrounds that had mingled uncomfortably in the last few days. But if she didn't lay down in the next minute, she was pretty certain her back was going to give out completely and she'd end up on the ground anyway.

"Brad."

He turned his head and looked at Carrie where she sat in a chair near Reid and Austin's wheelchairs. She was pointing at a bed down in the corner. Understanding dawned and he mouthed his thanks as he shifted his hold on the precious gift standing within his embrace.

"Can I carry you to your bed or do you need to walk?" he asked her softly as he felt the muscles in her back begin to contract painfully.

"Carry," she gasped as she sagged in his arms.

He swept her up off the floor and moved her to the bed. Her whimpers of pain tore at his heart and the first thing he did when he got her to the bed was hit the call button.

"Do you have pain meds on hand that you can take or do you need to wait for the nurse?"

"Wait," she whispered as her eyes opened, tears beginning to leak from her eyes as her pain increased. He nodded as he took her hand and eased himself down to sit on the edge of the bed.

Without thinking about it, he fell back on the motions he'd started whenever this would happen at home since the crash. He moved her hand closer to his heart, caught and held her amazing green eyes with his own blue ones and gently stroked her sweaty hair with his other hand. And as they waited for the nurse, he softly told her how very much he loved her and was grateful to have her back with him.

New Section

She knew she was supposed to stay in her wheelchair, but Austin didn't think the nurses would mind all that much if she left her own for Reid's. After all, it was still a wheelchair; even if he _was_ already in it. When he'd held out his arms and said "Come here," there was nothing that could have stopped her from doing just that.

They hadn't said anything else in the longest while. He'd simply held her close with his eyes closed, softly humming under his breath what sounded like a lullaby. Her tears had eased as she took comfort from him and gave that comfort back as they held hands and she played her fingers lightly through his hair, something he'd long since admitted that he loved her to do.

He stirred under her, his free hand sliding up her back to tug gently at her hair. She tipped her head back to look at him as he seemed to want.

"I don't blame you, you know," he said softly, the sincerity on his face and the honesty in his eyes backing up the truth of his words.

She swallowed hard and nodded. "I know," she whispered as another tear tracked its way down her cheek. "I don't even blame myself; I know there was nothing I could have done differently. It doesn't stop the pain though and it doesn't change how broken my heart feels right now."

He nodded agreement and gently tugged her head in closer so that he could kiss her temple.

New Section

Emily smiled as she watched Jack wander back to Toby and Carrie. Her beautiful, sweet son was so sensitive to the feelings of others and knowing that she was happy and safe, his world had settled back on its proper axis and he'd gone off to see if he could make Carrie feel better too. As she watched, Carrie lifted Jack up onto her bed and climbed into it, obviously with the intention of telling the boys a story.

She shifted in Aaron's arms to face him again. "Where are the girls?"

He kissed her gently, the smile in his eyes filled with just a little heat that said if they'd been alone there would have been a hell of a lot more going on than a just a cuddle and a few steamy kisses. Of course, there _were_ other signs of that fact but she was choosing to ignore them in favour of propriety and everyone else's sensibilities.

"One of the agents from California has a child and said she'd be quite happy to watch all the babies while we reunited. So Ben, India and Chloe are with her at this moment in the waiting room until a later, more appropriate time to grill you all for information at which time Derek and I will take our youngest back in hand."

She hummed her happiness. "That's good of them to wait because much as I have a goldmine's worth of information for them, I'd much rather just stay right where I am in this moment."

"Oh good, cause I was all prepared with about a dozen arguments for why you needed to stay right here for the time being."

"Only a dozen?" she teased softly.

He chuckled in appreciation and gently rocked her. "Can I take you back to the hotel with me and hold you tonight?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait on that one more night. They aren't releasing any of us until tomorrow."

He frowned as he used her hair to gently manoeuver her head into a position where he could clearly see her face. "If the only issue is shock, you should have been cleared this morning. What haven't you told me about your condition? Did they hurt you more than you let on?"

She sighed softly. "Aaron…"

"Damn it Emily; haven't I been through enough lately without you trying to keep secrets from me too? Now tell me what's going on?"

She hated the fear and panic she could see in his eyes. Her hands shook slightly as she lifted them to cup his face. Going up on tiptoe she kissed him lightly and said softly, "I promise you there is _nothing_ wrong with me that can't wait until we aren't surrounded by people who don't yet need to know before I tell you what more there is going on. What I can tell you is that though they threatened us and used knives on JJ and PG, we weren't violated in _that_ sense of the word."

He looked at her steadily and whatever he saw on her face must have reassured him because he relaxed under her hands and nodded slightly. "Very well Em, but as soon as we are alone tomorrow, you _will_ tell me."

"Of course; just not right now."

He folded her back into his arms and she relaxed as well. A minute later, he said softly, "Can it wait just a little longer?"

She tipped her head back to look at him, just a little bit confused about what he meant when movement to her right turned her head in the direction he was looking…and she was left utterly grateful that Aaron was holding her up as her knees went weak. Thinking it was a _maybe_ that the reference to the team from California might be the one she knew so well was a _completely_ different kettle of fish to finding out it was true.

"_Alex?"_

"Hello Emily."

End-

**A/N: Stay tuned to the next instalment from this author...**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Okay so maybe my eyesight troubles were the precursors to the migraine that slammed into me on Friday. Ouch is the greatest understatement of the century. Then I had a crazy-busy weekend and on Monday, I got given a task that took up the entire day. Then Tuesday the same thing happened (all I can say now is papercuts in abundance). Yesterday was taken up writing this chapter. So many apologies for making you wait so long for the long-awaited connection between Emily and Alex. This chapter will answer that question and the one that I raised last chapter about Carrie and Mirkal.**

**Thanks to everyone who is still with me on this crazy ride and continues to encourage me chapter in and chapter out. The warm fuzzies you all wrote really got me through a tough five days. Kisses to HGRHfan35, Hazmatt, miaa29, HPforever-after, Wtiger5 and Jamnut for reviewing the last chapter. Also, thanks to the beautiful x-MJ-x for her gorgeous review of The Heart of a Man, which is still one of my favourite pieces to date.**

**And now without further ado, on with the chapter. **

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 13

"Alex?"

"Hello Emily. So this is the guy you left me for."

Emily sighed and pushed away from Aaron's arms as he stiffened slightly, whether from the implication behind Alex's words or because of the seemingly random attack she didn't know. And considering how tired she suddenly felt, she wasn't sure she really cared either.

"Alex, please don't do this now. Please. I get released tomorrow and if you like you can yell at me to your heart's content and we can have a great big argument about it then; just not now with everyone listening."

"I see. So it's alright for you to do it in front of people, but not for me to do the same? Do I have that right?" When she nodded cautiously, he nodded as well. "That's a tad hypocritical of you don't you think Em?"

She closed her eyes as it sunk home that he was really going to do this, here and now, with everyone looking on. With Aaron looking on. The one person she had neglected to share this information with who actually needed to know.

She turned her back on Alex and looked up at Aaron. He looked confused and more than a little hostile but as his gaze came to rest on her, that hostility melted away and the love she was so used to seeing returned, tempered by his obvious worry for her wellbeing.

Oh good; he's not mad at me. Yet.

"Aaron, I'm sorry I never told you any of this. And that you are about to find out in the worst possible way. I'm sorrier than I may ever be able to put into words but if you can just bear with me, I promise I will tell you everything later in private."

"Oh that's rich. You married the man but didn't tell him everything? Seriously Em; first a hypocrite and now a liar. How times have changed."

"Hey," Aaron said angrily as Emily turned back to the angry man behind her who looked like he actually wanted to do her physical harm, though she knew he wouldn't. But as her 'family' bristled and growled around her as they went on the alert, she knew they didn't know that and it wouldn't take much to set everyone off.

"I never lied to Aaron; I simply didn't get around to telling him."

As Alex flinched in front of her, she closed her eyes and wished she could take back her words. She'd just as good as indicated their relationship hadn't been as important to her as it had been to him. And though she was sure he'd already figured it out for himself seeing as how she'd left, actually saying it in front of people he had to work with was the worst thing she could have done to cement that fact in his mind.

As an ugly look came across his face, she knew she was about to be cut just as deeply. "Well then Emily, why don't you go ahead and tell him now. In fact, why don't you announce it to the room while you're at it. After all, my guys know all about it and you, so you should share it with Cassie and Clare so they know what not to be like."

It was her turn to flinch, which caused several more growls from around the room.

Sampson stepped into the room from where he'd been lounging in the doorway. "Alex, maybe we should save this until you've calmed down a bit. None of this is healthy and we've discussed this before, that you shouldn't bring this up while tempers are high."

Emily shot Sampson a grateful look for his help but waved him back. The look on Alex's face said he wasn't going to let this go until the whole sorry story was out. She steeled herself for the rejection that was probably going to come from her team and waited.

"Don't worry Sampson; my temper is nice and cool." He looked at her with contempt and gestured between her and the man at her back. "Go on, or should I tell him for you?"

"Alex, please don't…"

"Okay then, looks like you get to hear it from me. We were together for three years, we fell in love and we were happy together." She started to shake her head with a warning look on her face, a last ditch effort to get him to stop though she knew it was pointless as he raised an eyebrow at her. "What? Did I get something wrong? Oh no, that's right; I left off the ending. But you keep shaking your head. Don't you want him to know the rest.

"Do you know, my family hounded me after you left until I finally caved in and told them why you left. Do you have any idea how humiliating it is to tell the people closest to you that your woman left you because you weren't man enough for her?"

"I never said that," she denied fiercely as her hands bawled up into fists.

"But you did imply it when you left."

"You could have called me and I would have spoken to them; set them straight."

"Calledyou? You're kidding right? I could barely stand to hear your name mentioned and you're telling me now I should have called you?"

When she flinched again, she heard Aaron mutter something under his breath and the next thing she knew, he'd picked her up and was carrying her away from Alex and his hostility.

"Hey I'm not done yet!"

Aaron turned with her in his arms but kept walking backwards. "If you are going to continue to abuse my wife, who has just been through a severe trauma, then yes; you are done."

He started to turn back around with a soft apology to a nurse he almost ran into when Alex shouted, "And am I still done if I tell you she left me at the altar?"

New Section

Alex strode angrily out of view after shouting that last bit so loud everyone on the ward would have heard it and after muttering something under his breath about obstinate bosses who should know better, Sampson jogged off after the other three leaving behind a stunned silence.

"Did anyone know Emily was engaged to someone before Hotch?"

The men from the California team lifted their hands and Derek made to wave that away as insignificant when Penelope slowly raised her hand. He frowned at her.

"How'd you find out baby girl and why didn't you tell us? You told us everything else about her."

She shrugged. "It was in the personal section of her paperwork when she first came over here; the section that doesn't actually reach the boss that is. I found it by accident when I was putting the paperwork away and since she hadn't mentioned it and wasn't married at the time, I took it to her first and she asked me to keep it quiet. I figured it wasn't hurting anyone and it also wasn't really our business since I got the impression that it might be pretty painful for her so I filed it away, kept my mouth shut, and then completely forgot about it until just now."

"So what happened exactly?" JJ asked softly.

"For those of you I haven't met yet, I'm Mirkal Renhwah from the California team. Hello. Umm, okay; huge long story short.

"In the lead-up to the actual wedding day, Emily had expressed a couple of doubts about the two of them being happy in the long term together. He did his usual and told her it would all be fine without actually taking the time to listen to her and try to work it through with her. Now, not to badmouth the boss cause he has many wonderful qualities, but when he sets his sights on something as specific as marrying Emily Prentiss, he's pretty deaf, dumb and blind to anything that might change the expected outcome."

"So Emily wasn't sure about marrying him but he was going to force her to do that anyway?" Austin asked slowly, a frown on her brow. She wasn't the only one frowning.

"That's kind of low Mirkal. How come no one mentioned it to us before?" Clare asked.

He shrugged. "It was the boss's private business and it happened a good six months before both you and Cassie joined the team. We figured he'd tell you what was what when he was ready."

"Makes sense I guess," Cassie muttered, though she didn't look happy with what she was hearing.

"Anyway," Mirkal pressed on as he noticed everyone was now frowning, "They got all the way to the altar, though you could tell she wasn't that happy with what was going on, and then when the priest asked if anyone objected to the union, she was the only one who spoke up."

"How many guests were present?" Dave asked quietly.

"About 500, plus the choir so maybe 600 in total. She said she objected and she was sorry and she left. We didn't see her for another three weeks because that was how long she had off for the honeymoon and when we did see her, it was only long enough for her to say goodbye to us all. She said she'd been offered a transfer to DC, she'd decided to take it and was leaving that evening. That was the last time any of us saw or heard from her before just now."

"So how long did she work with all of you?"

"Maybe six years, I think. She was only with the state department for two years before she transferred away from them. She said when she first arrived that it was a delight to finally be in the position she'd wanted all along. But in the end, she couldn't seem to leave us fast enough and the haunted look she'd arrived with that had left over the intervening years was back in force on her face."

"So can your boss work effectively to catch the guys who did this to us? Because Emily is the only one of us who could actually understand what they were saying. They didn't speak to us much in English."

"Good point Jordan," JJ murmured.

"That's really interesting. And unfortunately the answer to your question depends on how well the rest of the conversation goes," Mirkal said with a shrug. "But if Sampson assesses Alex's overall condition and says he isn't fit for the rest of this case, Phil will step in and take it over."

Phil stepped away from the wall and introduced himself. This started the rest of his team into realising that they hadn't introduced themselves either so the next few minutes were spent doing that.

Finally Phil sighed. "Considering how touchy a subject this has been for the boss, let's treat it like we have to get along without him. How about we split you all up and we can get your statements. Don't worry so much about not being able to tell us all of what they were saying; just tell us what you know."

"I'm not doing this without Spencer. Not tonight."

Phil smiled at Austin gently. "Considering how pale you look right now, I'm thinking it would be better if you were returned to your room so you could get some rest. You can argue with the nurses over your husband staying with you and one of us will interview you tomorrow."

Austin tucked her head into the crook of Reid's neck and closed her eyes just as a nurse walked into the room. She moved directly over to the young woman and frowned at her with her hands on her hips. Seconds later, Austin let out a slight snort before she started to snore softly. Giggles escaped most of the girls before they smothered them and everyone else, including the nurse, was fighting not to grin. She disappeared long enough to grab a friend and then they wheeled both Austin and Reid out of the room with Austin snoring along happily.

"Why is there never a camera around when it is absolutely crucial to preserve the moment as proof for blackmail purposes later?" Penelope demanded, causing everyone to laugh before Phil split everyone up for interviews.

Carrie had been left with two wide-eyed and scared little boys clinging to her and two hungry baby girls needing to be fed. When Mirkal told her that he would be interviewing her but was happy to help feed the girls first, she softly agreed and followed him to the waiting room at the other end of the ward. It was thankfully empty and after speaking with a nurse, he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him for privacy.

She had already settled the boys onto one the couches and watched as they almost immediately fell asleep as they snuggled in to each other for comfort. Smothering a smile, she agreed with Penelope that there was never a camera around when you needed it.

She pulled a couple of bottles of formula from the baby bag that had been left in the room and settled into a corner of the other couch with Chloe in her arms. Mirkal looked hesitant as he moved to pick up India but once he was similarly settled with the baby in his arms looking up at him with solemn eyes, he settled into the ease of the task.

She watched him settle India closer to his heart and felt a strange melting sensation she had previously only really felt once before she was married and then afterwards only where Toby, and now sometimes Jack, was involved. She continued to watch until he lifted his head and caught her gaze with his. For long minutes, neither moved or spoke, completely content to just look at the other. But then the moment was broken as Chloe finished her feed a few seconds before her sister. Then they were both busy with burping the girls, before she pulled out the change mat, changed both girls into fresh diapers and clean jumpsuits and then they were tucked back into their carrier where they too fell fast asleep.

She settled back into the couch as the realisation occurred that she was now alone with him and for the first time since then she could get answers.

"You want to know why, don't you?"

She looked at him, startled at the thought that he might be reading her mind. "It would be nice…I figured the attraction was both ways but maybe…maybe I was wrong," she finished softly as she dropped her head to stare at her clasped hands suddenly nervous beyond words.

"You weren't wrong." Her head snapped up and he smiled dryly. "The force of how very interested in you I was almost overwhelmed me. But you were young and I didn't think it was wise to start something that neither of us could finish."

She frowned. "I was 17; not that young at all and it wasn't as if you were that much older. And if you'd turned up the next day like you were supposed to, I was going to tell you that I was coming back a few months later to spend the whole summer. I waited for almost the entire day before it dawned on me that you weren't coming back and I never got to tell you. When I returned I went looking for you but I couldn't find you and when I spoke with your boss, he said you'd already left to start working in the US. I was dismayed to hear you lived somewhere in California. I knew there was no way I would be able to track you down, so I had to give up."

He sighed softly. "I don't know if there are words enough to express my disappointment in my actions as I looked back on that day throughout the years. I was there at the park that last morning but I was hiding because I was afraid of my own feelings. When I saw you turn up, I almost changed my mind, particularly when I saw how pretty you looked. Instead I stayed in hiding and when you eventually walked away, I told myself I'd done the right thing and I did my best to move on."

She tipped her chin up as hurt threatened to overwhelm her. "And how did that work for you?"

He smiled wryly. "Well, I lost a whole heap of weight in the months that followed because nothing appealed to me food-wise. Girls lost all appeal because I kept comparing them to you and the only thing that seemed to work was throwing myself into learning my new job. There were two women over the years I was with; one of whom I was with for almost three months before I realised the futility of it what with how frequently I was still thinking of you and the other one was over before it began. Nothing for the last five years."

"Nothing at all?" she asked in shock, aware only distantly of how wide her eyes must be in that moment.

He shrugged. "Every time I closed my eyes all I could see was a mass of chocolate brown curls, stunning blue eyes and a pair of lips I could have quite happily spent the rest of my life locked with if only I hadn't been such a dumbass. It just didn't seem fair either to them or to me to pretend that I felt something when my heart had been stolen a long time ago."

"And now? My life is a country away from you."

"I can't convince you to leave it?"

She looked down at her hands and said softly, "It's too close to some of the worst memories of my life." She saw the curiosity on his face as she lifted her head and after a hesitation, she explained, "I have an abusive relationship in my past."

He nodded his head to the boys on the couch. "Your son's father?"

"Yes. I ran away with Toby and got a job as a nanny for the Hotchner's and I figured we'd both be safe. But he followed us, nearly killed me and badly hurt Toby."

"Is he dead?" Mirkal asked fiercely.

She started at the look on his face and thought about moving away from him, but something was telling her his anger wasn't aimed at her at all.

"No. He's serving a life sentence after nearly killing a few of my friends as well, particularly since one of them is with the FBI. And because he was a cop and with the abusive history, he isn't liable for parole til he's almost 80. It's horrible, I know, but I'm kinda hoping someone kills him in jail first."

"I don't think it's horrible at all; it's only natural after all he's put you through. Are you still married to him?"

"No. Hotch used to be a prosecutor and so he hooked me up with one of his lawyer-friends who helped me get a divorce even though he wasn't willing. I've been a free woman for almost three months now."

He nodded slowly and said cautiously, "So if I was thinking of asking you out with the eventual intention of relocating from California in order to be closer to you and if I got down on my knees and grovelled for forgiveness over my atrocious behaviour 10 years ago, what would your reaction be?"

She studied him for a moment before moving a little closer to him on the couch. "Is this a hypothetical question?"

He moved closer as well as he shook his head slowly.

His very, very brown eyes always had been so easy to fall into. "Then maybe we should see if the attraction is still there or if this is all smoke and mirrors."

His eyes went wide for a few too-long seconds before he nodded. "You are so right about that."

For another second no one moved and later, neither would be able to figure out who did move first. Both decided, that for the sake of not arguing, they would both have moved at the same time and that was that.

Either way though, they both ended up right where they wanted to be. She shifted to straddle his lap as his hands tunnelled into her hair and they stared at each other from only inches away as they waited. With a suddenness that caused them both to gasp softly, the old connection snapped back into place and with eager little noises, their lips locked for the first time in ten years and the world around them faded away.

**End-**

**A/N: Okay, so this totally wasn't going to be this long, but I just looked at it and decided I couldn't cut it in half if I tried and still have a chapter of a decent length. So here it is. Hope it answers several of your questions adequately. **

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Okay so I know I said I was going to dump the excuses and just run with the fact that I don't always have the time I need to type, but I really feel I owe all of you an explanation AND an apology. Firstly, I was visiting my mum (much as I love all of you, I'm definitely not going to be writing while spending time with her) and now I am in a new job where I have a little more responsibility. I DID have a couple of quiet weekends in there, but one of my fav authors brought out a new book and in the way of bookworms everywhere, I was drawn back in to the rest of the books in the series. So I've been reading more than writing.**

**BUT...Christmas is right around the corner. I have a four day weekend coming up, followed by a three day working week then another three day weekend. And except for Christmas Day and Boxing Day, I am intending to get a lot more writing done to make up for my recent absence. My work has also settled down and now that I am faster at everything I HAVE to do, I have more time to do what I actually WANT to do.**

**Also, stay tuned in the next few days for my Christmas fic, as inspired by the requested prompt from the lovely x-MJ-x.**

**Okay you guys. The response to the last chapter was so wow and mixed it was incredible but as always, your reviews have been amazing. Wtiger5, NicknHotchfan, miaa29, Hazmatt, HGRHfan35 and HPforever-after; you guys ROCK! Thanks so much for your encouragement and I'm glad too that you seem to like Carrie and Mirkal as a couple. I'd had them in mind for a while and was simply waiting for the right time to introduce them. It's about time that Carrie has something positive happen in her life. Now we just have to see how Toby reacts. **

**Right, so miaa29 brought up a really interesting point that I wish to clarify for everyone regarding this story in particular and the storyline of NPH in general. To answer the question posed regarding the haunted look in Emily's eyes when she arrived in California, it was simply to do with still being hung up on what happened with Aaron from when they were together and how it ended. Remember, he completely broke her heart, but she was still in love with him all these years later. In this AU, Doyle never happened and Emily's history is almost completely different to what the writers of CM have portrayed.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 14

Emily sat on the bed edge the morning after having her so-closely-guarded secret outed and watched Aaron as he dressed for the day. In light of the cold outside, he had pulled on jeans and though she knew they still had to have a serious discussion before they left the hotel room, she kept getting distracted by his butt encased in denim as he went about his routine.

The conversation with Alex the evening before had extended long into the night; so long in fact that when Aaron had finally walked her back to the ward, only the men were awake as they watched over their ladies. Though they'd watched her walk into the room, no one had said anything as her husband tucked her in to the bed and as Jack, already sleeping on her bed, snuggled into her warmth.

Her only clue that Aaron might be willing and able to forgive her came in the gentle press of his lips to her temple as her eyes slid shut.

Now they'd all been released from the hospital except for Austin and she was shortly to be interviewed for her side of the kidnapping attempt.

But first she had to face her husband. _If_ she could concentrate long enough to get the thoughts roiling through her head to stay still long enough for her to put coherent conversation to them.

"Emily?"

She started in surprise, looking up from her contemplation of the rings on her finger to find he was standing right in front of her. As she stared at him mutely, he frowned and crouched down in front of her. Taking her hands in his, his frown deepened. "Love, your fingers are like ice. Are you cold?"

It was a good question, but the answer eluded her mental grasp for several long seconds and it took another few seconds after that before she could get her head to nod in the affirmative.

He stood with a deeply worried look on his face, walked to where her jacket was draped over the chair near the door and walked back to drape it over her shoulders. She was surprised at how immediately her body started to warm up under the soft wool.

When the guys had left home for Baltimore, they had wisely thought about the ladies' needs at the other end if they were rescued as planned. Or rather Reid had and the rest agreed it was a good, positive-thinking idea and went along with it. So where there was an already packed go-bag, these were grabbed and where there wasn't, a bag had very quickly been packed. Which meant that they were all now surrounded by comforting smells and fabrics; all things the doctors had agreed would help with their recovery from the shock they were all clearly experiencing.

"Emily? Talk to me, please."

She looked into Aaron's eyes and seeing only his worry and concern for her, she finally felt that it was safe to let go of her vigilant guard on her emotions. As the first hot tears slid down her face, he sighed heavily.

"You're finally feeling the shock of what happened now, aren't you?"

She nodded as a sob escaped and tipped sideways on the bed, suddenly too weary to even hold herself up despite the fact that she was already sitting down.

With another sigh, this one filled with a combination of exasperation, amusement and love, Aaron walked out of her sight. She closed her eyes against the knowledge of being alone while she broke over her ordeal but they quickly flew open in shock as the bed shifted behind her. He pulled her fully up onto the bed and into his arms and began to rock her gently as her sobs wracked her entire body.

"Silly kitten; when will you learn you're never alone and that it's okay sometimes not to be the strong one?"

New Section

Austin watched her husband sleep in his wheelchair and knew that somehow they would get through this whole ordeal.

Falling asleep the night before so suddenly and deeply had pushed back the conversation she knew they needed to have about what had happened. But now she was awake and she was so content just watching Reid sleep that she was again feeling sleepy.

She must have dozed off because a nurse checking her vitals woke her up again. Opening her eyes was a delight; Reid was gazing at her in that way he had that let her know he was thinking of her and how much he loved her. She smiled at him and was rewarded with a warm smile in return.

"Hey you. Did you have a nice sleep?"

She flicked a look at the nurse as a machine beeped, but the woman didn't look too concerned so she turned back to her husband.

"I had a lovely sleep. I actually feel a little better."

The nurse smiled. "That's because all your vitals are beginning to return to normal. Only your hormone levels are still high but that is to be expected. I need to go and get the doctor now that you are properly awake, so I'll leave the two of you to talk."

Reid frowned as he watched the nurse leave. Austin smiled slightly as she watched Reid try to fathom what the nurse was hinting at with that last comment before leaving.

"You know, your hormones should have dissipated when...well, they should have left by now."

She held her hand out to him as a pained look crossed his face and once his hand was in hers, they just stayed like that for a while, each of them thinking of the child they'd just lost. When she deemed that enough time had passed for her to break the comfortable silence they were in, she said softly, "Is there any reason you can think of that my hormones might still be high?"

He shrugged and settled more comfortably in the wheelchair. "The only reason I can think of would relate to you still being pregnant. I'm not too sure otherwise, I have to admit."

She smiled, a supremely happy and confidant smile as she watched Reid frown again. She didn't say anything, she just watched him work through what was going on in his head. He was the smartest man she knew; there was no doubt in her mind he'd figure it out shortly. Even as she thought this, his head whipped around to stare at her and as he took in her expression, his eyes grew huge and he moved as far forward in his wheelchair as he could.

"Are you still pregnant?"

She smirked, deciding to tease him a little bit. "Well, that took you a little longer than I thought to fig..."

She sighed happily as he pushed up on his good leg and proceeded to kiss the life out of her. Neither of them noticed the doctor stop in the doorway and then back up with a small smile as he realised what must be happening.

Reid pulled back from her mouth and she whimpered slightly as she tried to pull him back in. He resisted as he slid a hand down to her stomach.

"Are you both well? What happened exactly?"

She smiled softly and dropped a hand to join his. "Twins run rampant through our team," she said in an amused tone of voice. "In our case, one of them was growing in the wrong spot. The one that remains is right where it is supposed to be and is as healthy as a little clam."

"How pregnant are we?"

She liked how he phrased the question, her smile approving as she ran her hand gently through his hair. "About 11 weeks. The doctor said it was a touch abnormal to have made it this far with little to no symptoms but we are none the less blessed by this turn of events. He doesn't think this pregnancy should be affected that much by what just happened, but I should get in touch with the correct type of doctor when we return to DC because I should be pretty closely monitored regardless."

"That shouldn't be too hard. I'd ask Emily for a recommendation but since her doctor was found to be criminally negligent after what happened with her and several others during their pregnancies..."

"Hmm, well maybe there are others at the same practice. Em did say once that she liked the atmosphere they had created there."

He smiled. "Whatever makes you happy for the next 29 weeks is my command."

With an unholy little smile, Austin tugged him closer. "Oh goody," she breathed right before she claimed another kiss.

New Section

Aaron returned to the bed after calling Dave to pass on the information that Emily would be along later to give her statement. She was calmer than she had been, but she was still far too quiet for his liking. Deciding on a plan of action, he slipped off his shoes and climbed back onto the bed with her.

"Dave will inform the other team of our lateness. He also said to pass on to you that no one on the team holds it against you that you kept quiet about such a juicy piece of information as having been engaged in the past. He then pointed out that it was up to me to decide how _I_ was going to react. I said I was still trying to swim with all the information in my head and I'd get back to him.

"But while I would definitely like a more personal, and far less confrontational, explanation of what happened" she smiled just slightly at that reference to how prickly and aggressive Alex had been the evening before, "I think I am slightly more interested in what you're keeping from me. So how about we discuss whatever that is and come back on the rest. Does that work for you?"

She nodded slightly and pushed up to sit with her back against the pillows mounded up near the headboard. Then she studied her toes as she thought about how best to tell him. Remembering the doctor's report, she thought that might be the better way to go so she slipped from the bed and walked to her bag on shaky legs. Retrieving the slip of paper she'd hidden there when Aaron went to sign her discharge papers, she walked back to the bed and reclaimed her spot with relief.

Once she'd handed the paper over, she curled up against the pillows and yawned hugely. She had every reason in the world to be exhausted, and yet every time she closed her eyes, she thought she could hear one of _them_ coming back to re-capture her.

Upon hearing Aaron's sharp intake of breath, she opened her eyes to see the shock roll over his features.

"Is this accurate?"

She smiled just slightly as she fought a losing battle with keeping her eyes open. "My reaction to the doctor was more along the lines of, 'Is this a joke?' but he confirmed it none the less."

"I didn't think it was possible."

She shrugged. "Neither did I, but hey; we learnt something new, didn't we?"

His eyes narrowed. "You're taking this far too well."

She sighed softly and pushed herself up. Lying down was making her think longingly of sleep and at the moment, she really needed to concentrate because, somehow in all this, she'd forgotten what they'd so recently been through.

"Aaron, it's not the end of the world." The frown on his face deepened and brought another sigh to her lips. "Look, we can come back and deal with this later. For now though, I need to take a nap because I have cried myself into exhaustion and then we need to go and catch a couple of nasty unsubs. _Then_ we can deal with this. Alright?"

He shook his head as a reluctant smile tugged his lips up. "How is it you always know the right thing to say, even when I know I'm right?"

She shot him an innocent look. "Maybe because you aren't always right?"

The shocked look on his face caused her to break into a fit of giggles. She was still giggling when he lunged in to kiss her senseless. Then she was just breathless until he settled her in against him and they both shut their eyes for some much needed sleep.

**End-**

**A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! **

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I know the last chapter was pretty slow and quiet, but it's going to be like that for a little while as I settle things down and give our lovely ladies a break before I build the suspense back up again. I may spend a little time with specific couples as well, and there will definitely be a more in-depth explanation of what went on between Emily and Alex soonish.**

**I wasn't really expecting any reviews on the last chapter simply because it was posted around Christmas and I figured everyone would be away over the holidays. So imagine my happy dance in excitement as I realised I actually got not 1 review, but 7 amazing ones (even if a few of them weren't for this chapter). Thanks and belated Merry Christmas to greengirl82 for chapters 10, 11, 12 & 13, Hazmatt, HPforever-after and HGRHfan35.**

**As to what was on the paper Emily handed to Aaron, stay tuned everyone for the answer coming to you in the next few chapters.**

**Warning: This chapter is a touch heavy going and will be focused mainly on Carrie and Mirkal as I explore Carrie's past. This chapter contains a sex scene.**

**Yes, it is long, but it is necessary and you may find slightly longer chapters over the next few anyway.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 15

Carrie smiled as she watched Toby and Jack embrace as they discussed excitedly what they were going to do that day. Derek and Jordan had volunteered to look after the twins for Aaron while he had a serious chat with Emily before they had to go to the office so that Emily could deliver her statement. Dave and Teresa were going to spend some time doing 'wedding things' as Dave had termed it – they both needed something sane and normal after the shock everyone had suffered - and had volunteered them both to take Jack for the same reason as the twins and then he'd extended the same offer to her for Toby as well so that Carrie too could give her statement and perhaps even get some rest because apparently, she looked exhausted.

Teresa hugged her about the shoulders and walked off. She watched until they were out of sight, aware that she wasn't the only one watching as she thought about how weird it already felt to have a day off from _all_ the children.

When the last car had driven off, she turned her head to the right and watched as Mirkal walked towards her dressed in jeans and a warm sweater underneath a thick jacket. She couldn't help but smile to see he was huddling into his clothing and that the beanie on his head was double layered and pulled down low over his ears.

_He really doesn't like snow...that's just too cute._

She held the door open until he was past her and then she turned as it closed automatically behind her.

Smothering a bout of giggles, she said softly, "I'd offer to turn up the heater but I think we'll be creating enough heat all on our own...we wouldn't want to pass out because it was _too_ hot in here."

"Oh I'm pretty certain there is no such thing as too hot...though looking at you right now, I'm certainly of a frame of mind to have my opinion changed."

She blushed as she ducked her head. When she looked back up, a giggle escaped, causing him to frown at her as she ducked her head again and attempted to get her mirth under control. He'd pulled off his beanie sometime while her gaze was on the floor as she'd attempted to get her blush under control. His hair was now sticking up every which way what.

"Well?" he demanded, though there was no anger in his tone and when she looked up again, she was led to wonder if he hadn't done it deliberately in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere considering the smile he wore.

"It's um, a good look on you."

His mouth dropped open in surprise; he'd obviously not expected that to be her response; before he smiled and bowed.

"I take joy in your happiness, oh beautiful one."

She blushed again and moved past him, but he caught her hand and tugged her back round to face him. His hand under her chin was gentle as he lifted her face up to his and his kiss when it came was as sweet as she'd known it would be, but she suddenly found she was fighting the same nightmare that had kept her awake for most of the night in a panic.

_So much for thinking I had it under control..._

As if he somehow sensed that something wasn't right, he pulled back and wrapped her up in a hug that did more for her fear than she might ever be able to put into words.

"Should we sit down and talk first?"

She nodded, but made no move to leave his embrace as her shaking eased and her breath shuddered out of her in a deep sigh.

"Can I take a guess?" he asked softly, his hand coming up to stroke through her long hair. She hesitated a moment before nodding slowly, wondering if there was any way for him to get even close to the _why_ of her fear; something she'd not even told the Hotchner's when they'd encouraged her to tell them what her husband had done to her so that they could be better prepared to protect her from him.

_And in the end, it didn't matter anyway; he simply watched and waited until I was vulnerable; just like he always did..._

His hand came to rest against her head, the weight comforting and the smell of him relaxing her further. _He'd_ certainly never held her like this before.

"I know you said your husband abused you pretty horribly, but I _did_ get the feeling that you were holding something back. Your reaction just now makes me think he also raped you at one stage or another. Am I right?"

She turned her nose into his chest and breathed deeply for a second before forcing her head back to look at him.

_If I'm serious about moving on, I need to be braver than I have ever been..._

"He did. He came home from a hard day at work one day. I was dressed like this, just getting ready for bed and feeling pretty crappy thanks to a virus that I'd caught from Toby. He pulled me in and kissed me like he always did as a prelude to sex. When I pulled away from him and said I wasn't feeling well, he said I had no choice in the matter because it was a wife's _duty_ to her husband and...he forced me. I waited until he fell asleep before I crawled out of bed and went to sleep on the floor in Toby's room. The next day, I took Toby and we went to visit my mother for a week. This was after I found out the police would do nothing to protect me from him and right before I found out my parents thought Vincent walked on water and could do no wrong."

Mirkal gently kissed her temple. "I'll bet he was furious when he found out."

"That's putting it lightly. It took him that week to figure out where I'd gone. Then he came to get me, apologising to my parents for my imposition on their time and resources when I was feeling mentally unstable. He dragged me back home, beat the crap out of me and told me if I ever left him again, he'd kill me."

He went back to gently stroking his hand through her hair, not seeming to be in a rush to do anything.

"Do you want to wait some? We don't have to follow the plan we made last night. Though now that I'm thinking about it, you didn't do much more than agree I could come here when Toby left for the day, did you? Poor love; you probably lay awake all last night panicking about trying to do something that is probably now abhorrent to you and here I come, all thumbs and sharp edges, trying to make things worse for you when you're already traumatised enough at the moment. How about I go and we can try this at either a later date or not at all?"

_Be brave..._

"No, don't go; please. Perhaps if we could just lie on the bed and talk or just cuddle or something innocent like that." She closed her eyes against the look on his face as tears began to slip down her face. "I don't want to be afraid of intimacy for the rest of my life, not when I trust you this much. Please, stay and help me heal from this? I know I don't have the right to ask this of you, but I never felt safer in my entire life than when I was with you; if you don't help me through this, I don't know that I'll ever find my way on my own. _Please_ Mirkal, please..."

Her voice dissolved into sobs as he pulled her back into his arms. He started walking her backwards as he spoke soothingly to her, rubbing her back and stroking her hair. When the back of her legs hit the bed, she was still too distressed to notice or even care where she was; the only thing that seemed to matter was that he hadn't gone anywhere. She didn't know how long she lay sobbing in his arms but when she became aware of her surroundings, she was lying on the bed with his arms around her and her light wrap gone. His hands stroked gently up her back, over her hair, down the side of her head, neck and arms and then back up again. His fingers gently brushed over her butt every second or third pass, but she found that she was intrigued by the sensation more than repulsed by it.

"That's better," he said softly as she relaxed fully in his embrace. "Nothing is going to happen here that you don't give me full, firm permission to do. And if you give me permission and then revoke it later, that is fully alright with me also; I will never force you where you are not willing to go. I'll also reassure you now that if you do change your mind, I won't think you wishy-washy or silly in the slightest. You have every right to decide what happens to your body and..."

He stopped talking as her hand came up to cover his mouth, but he couldn't stop his lips from kissing the palm of her hand. Her eyes grew large as a shiver ran through her, but when she pulled her hand slowly away, her eyes searched his as she replaced her hand with her lips.

She discovered the beauty about lying where she did was that she had full control over how close she was or wasn't to his body and he was quite content with whatever she offered. At least she thought he was, but maybe that was an illusion because his hands were always gently stroking over various parts of her body as he returned her slow intimate kisses with ones of his own.

But always he eased back slightly if he felt her tense up in any way, though she began to notice that he would only retreat from an area for a short period of time before he would slowly make his way back to it. And with every retreat and return, she found allowing him further access was easier with every passing minute they were together. If his goal had been to drive her so crazy with wanting that she wouldn't be able to help giving _all_ of her to him, he was going about it in completely the right way.

But he never rushed his pace; it was always in tune with hers. And he never brushed the areas that were beginning to beg for attention. He also didn't seem interested in deepening their kisses and with a growl of frustration, she pulled back slightly to look at him.

"Are you trying to kill me with kindness?"

He smiled at her in a way that made her heart go ka-thump as he lifted a hand to push her curls away from her face.

"No, I'm waiting for you to lead me where you want to take this. I thought I made it clear at the start that I need permission from you to do what I want?"

She found she could barely breathe all of a sudden. Sure, she remembered him saying it, but he was a male; they had no control over their sex drives. Yet here he was, keeping his word.

_Now I just have to figure out how to tell him what I want without bolting for the door or having him fall off the bed laughing at my awkwardness. Ugg!_

But he hadn't laughed at her yet, nor had he belittled her fears or the pain that lingered over what had been done to her throughout her marriage. He had in fact been nothing but supportive.

_You were a brazen little hussy in the lounge last night, necking in the waiting room at the hospital like a teenager,_ her subconscious reminded her.

_Yes, but I was fully clothed, the boys were sleeping less than a meter away and there was always the chance that someone might come in at any moment. This is completely the opposite and totally different. So back off..._

Her subconscious retreated with a mocking laugh that spurred her on to take a chance and grab what she wanted for once in her life.

"I really want to be with you, here and now, but I don't know if I'm going to chicken out once the clothes come off, particularly cause I'm not without scars. I just, I really want to try but..." she dropped her head forward, letting her hair come down to cover her face as her words petered out. It was times like these she wished she was more eloquent.

He lifted her head up and gently kissed her temple. "You say start and we do this but the second you say stop, we stop; no matter how far we've gone. Even if we're butt naked and I'm poised on the edge of heaven."

That surprised a laugh out of her, but the laugh backed up in her lungs as he shifted her suddenly, lifting her to straddle his hips, to straddle _that_ part of his anatomy.

_Oh my..._

"Do you want us to continue to take it slow, or would you like me to pick up the pace according to how relaxed I feel you are?"

"Uh..." she found she couldn't focus; her whole attention was focused on what she could feel at the junction of her thighs. Despite the layer of denim and her panties between them, she was fascinated by the obviousness of how much he wanted her and the accompanying knowledge that, despite his clear need for her, he'd put her first and was continuing to do so.

_Maybe it's not so hard to be brave with him after all..._

She rocked her body forward and kissed him again, but this time she led the dance with a little more force. Thinking about it later, she knew it had more to do with feeling in control through her position on top of him (something she'd never experienced before) and with seeing him; his skin colour and the look in his eyes as he met her kiss for kiss and touch for touch; but suddenly her fears melted away and she rediscovered the 'brazen hussy' from the night before.

Their clothing disappeared in amidst the touches they shared and as she straddled him, naked but for her panties and his jeans, she found she liked the tentative attention his hands gave her body as he gently explored the many marks and scars that had been left by Vincent over time. But then he took his hands away and replaced them with his lips and suddenly _liking_ was such a weak word to describe the fire raging in her body and the heat beginning to pool where her body met his.

When his mouth returned to hers, there was nothing patient or gentle about the kiss they exchanged and she gloried in the feelings of possessiveness that washed over her at the realisation that _she_ was the one inciting this passion and fierceness in him; that it was all directed at her was a wondrous thing and she suddenly couldn't get enough of his mouth and his hands and the scent of him.

The rest of their clothing disappeared in a rapid flurry and she felt suddenly exposed and shy again as his fingers trailed up her thigh towards her inner heat. But like he'd promised, he stopped all of a sudden; just froze underneath her as he gently shifted her head so he could look her in the eyes.

"If this is too much, you just say so and we can put something back on."

She was suddenly crying again, and hating herself for her weakness, but all he did was tug her down to lay flush against him. The only thing that seemed to matter to him in the minutes that followed was comforting her, though she was distantly aware that she could still feel him solid yet silky against her abdomen. But he did nothing with it and slowly her crying eased.

"Better?" he asked softly as he continued stroking her hair. She nodded slowly as the realisation came that she did feel better this time. "Can you tell me about it?"

She thought about it for a few seconds and then whispered, "It just suddenly dawned on me that my life might have been a train wreck at one stage, and recently at that, but that I have been so blessed in the last year. I have work that I love, for people that I have also come to love; this has given me the opportunity I needed to spend all my time with Toby as we healed together and has let me see that I can do _life_ well, particularly as a mother.

"And now I'm getting a second chance with you, something I never thought possible after you left me in India, and here you are being patient and kind and everything I'd come to think was a myth when it came to male/female relationships after how Vincent treated me. Add to that your hints that you aren't going anywhere and the fact that you might be willing to move to a side of the country that regularly sees snow when you hate it so much and it all just swamped me for a bit there."

"You know, it suddenly dawned on me that if I hadn't been such an ass all those years ago, we might have ended up together and you wouldn't have ended up with such an abusive bastard of a husband. We could have been married already with a whole bunch of kids..."

She lifted her head and shook it. "Don't Mirkal. I still believe everything happens for a reason, even the bad stuff and besides, I wouldn't change having Toby for anything. Add to that, if you are willing to stick with me through all the stops and starts as I discover love with someone I know will treasure me, you'll come out the other side with a woman who is stronger than she ever would have been otherwise."

He grinned suddenly. "I always did like a strong woman with the occasional aggressive tendency...still, I am sorry for leaving you like I did and for the life you were forced to live because I wasn't around. And if you will allow me to continue being patient and kind with you, I'm quite happy to pass the time with you while we watch the strong young woman we know you are come out of hiding."

She swallowed hard in an attempt to avoid more tears as she nodded. "I have no problems with that whatsoever."

"Good," he murmured as he pulled her back into position for more hot kisses.

Again she felt her fears and doubts melt away and when she eventually felt his hand on her thigh again, she shifted to allow him better access. Of course, all thought after that, whether to help or hinder his efforts to seduce her she didn't know, went out the window as he stroked her lightly.

_Someone call the fire brigade..._

"Hmm, feels like you're ready. Last chance to back out."

She knew he was just teasing her, so she just watched him steadily as she thought about what she wanted. And as an answering light appeared in his eyes, his hands shifted on her hips and he wedded their bodies together.

She'd thought she'd freeze up like she always seemed to do with Vincent after he'd forced her that time, but here it felt so natural and _right_ that she went with it, following his lead as she rode him higher than she could ever recall going.

"I don't know how this is supposed to end," she whispered brokenly, as a small voice in her reminded her that Vincent had never been that satisfied by her.

"Shh, just keep going unless you really don't want to."

"It's not," she stopped on a gasp as he shifted the angle of his hips slightly, but continued on, _needing_ him to understand her deficiency. "It's not that I don't want to...I really, really do...oh." She was stopped again as something changed; something she'd never felt before.

"Are you alright?"

She'd stopped moving altogether and now she struggled to explain it. "Vincent said I was well enough in bed, but it was never very satisfying for him to be with me. I'm worried that you'll find the same thing...and now this."

"I'll address your ex's stupidity later. What does _this_ feel like?"

"I...tight; tight like I'm ready to explode. That sounds so bad, doesn't it?"

He smiled at her, the pleasure in his eyes taking her by surprise. "Not a bit; it means I'm doing my part of this dance right and I can tell you that, without a doubt, just before you stopped I was well and truly on the edge of my own release; meaning you are doing it right too."

She looked at him as her brain struggled to comprehend his words. "What?"

His smile turned tender as he stroked his hands down her sides to her hips. "May we continue this dance? I don't think I can explain it properly but if you can experience it, maybe you'll stop doubting yourself. And if that happens, we'll both benefit amazingly from it."

When she continued to look at him without comprehension of his meaning, he took her hands and lifted them up between them.

"I'll put this simpler; finish now, or continue on?"

_Stop_ this, whatever it was? Was he _crazy?_ She could no more stop than she could recall her own name in that moment. She shook her head.

"Is that an indication that you want to continue on?" A nod of her head later and he grinned at her so suddenly that she smiled in return. "Oh goody; I might have died if we'd needed to stop now."

He flexed his hips under hers, his grip on her hands tugging slightly and somehow she comprehended his meaning this time. She shifted her own hips up, then down and suddenly the sensations that had fizzled out as they talked were back with a vengeance and this time, she ignored the little voice in her head that sounded like Vincent and she kept going, her eyes locked on Mirkal's and the clear expression of how he was feeling as he moved with her.

The explosion, when it came, was like nothing she'd ever experienced before in her life. Her entire body flew apart, the pieces soaring out into nothingness, the sensations washing them away to leave her floating weightlessly in the nether. Yet she could _feel_ Mirkal with her here, and there was nothing scary about it.

"Oh...oh my...is it always like that?"

He chuckled under her, causing her to shiver in delight as his body moved with his amusement.

"Only when it's done right. And when your fear lessens and we have more time together, I think it will actually get better."

She wanted to lift her head to stare at him in shock, not believing what he'd said; for there was no possible way this could get any better; but she was just too tired and boneless to manage it.

"Mmm; I can feel your doubt. I'll let you keep it for now. We can come back on this discussion at a later date; say, after I've proven to you that I'm right."

She smiled just slightly at his confidence and shivered as the sweat cooled on her body. He immediately shifted under her, reaching out for the bedding they'd bunched up under them with their movements. Once he had them both covered up, she snuggled closer still and yawned as exhaustion pulled her down.

"I have to go make a statement soon," she mumbled as the warmth of his arms warred with the warmth of the blankets over them to pull her towards sleep.

"Later," he said softly as she slipped into sleep. "I'll wake you later, my love.

**End-**

**A/N: Okay, I know that was long, but I really wanted to spend some time with Carrie and give you all a small taste of her world before I move on with the story. I hope that was alright.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: For anyone who has actually been paying attention to the chapter sequences with the prologue at the start, NO; you haven't missed a chapter. I have decided to turn the prologue into chapter 1 and then bumped everything down to fix the flow. I haven't re-written anything so you haven't missed anything; I just took out the prologue and made it the first chapter. This IS where we are up to in the story.**

**Now for my lovely reviewers; you continue to be a source of light and encouragement and this is greatly appreciated, particularly after how heavy the last chapter was. I would like to thank Wtiger5, greengirl82, miaa29, Hazmatt, HGRHfan35 (so I had to look up the guy you mentioned cause I'd never seen the show and he does sort of look like the man I see in my head, but not quite) and HPforever-after. You guys mean the world to me and I hope I can continue to keep you interested as I continue to progress this series.**

**Another chapter of quiet moments. The more in-depth discussion on what happened between Emily and Alex is here, as is a quiet little moment between Dave and Teresa.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 16

"So tell me about Alex."

Emily sighed at the realisation that she couldn't put off the conversation any longer.

_At least he'll listen without judging. If he were anyone else, I would have been screwed six ways to Sunday with what Alex said last night, let alone being given this chance to tell my side of the story._

Grabbing a pillow and hugging it tight as he sat tailor-style across from her she nodded. "You deserve to know the truth. The truth is, I didn't particularly like myself much while I was in California. I still don't when I think back on that time. I was still hung up over what happened with you even those two years later and for a while there I forgot I wasn't a slut."

He shot her a disbelieving look and she laughed softly. "You forget how wild I was during my teen and college years. I settled a lot towards the end of college and while I was with you. But I was extremely broken up over our breakup when I arrived at the State Department and time spent there didn't really help. Then I found out you'd married Haley and that you'd achieved your goal of becoming a public prosecutor and I started to struggle a little with my self-image. Feeling really low, I decided to find a man who would make me feel wanted in place of your rejection and forget about you that way. But it didn't work and then I got the role I wanted in the FBI and moved across the country."

"So how does any of that equate to you thinking you were a slut?"

She blushed a deep red and muttered, "Alex wasn't the only guy on the California team that I slept with."

He frowned and said slowly, "It isn't _that_ unusual for team members to interact with each other. I mean, yes; it isn't allowed and there are instances where doing just that could get you into a world of trouble, but it doesn't mean it isn't done. You only have to look at our team dynamics to know that's true."

_Damnit! He's going to make me say it._

"Emily? How many of them did you sleep with?"

She ducked her head and pulled out the lackey band holding her hair up to allow it to fall forward to cover her face.

"_Emily!"_

"Fine. I slept with all of them and the two that the girls have obviously replaced as well." She lifted her head to gauge his reaction and flinched slightly at the shock she could see there. She dropped her head again and said softly, "Like I said, I don't much like myself when I think of that time. Do you want the details?"

"That would be nice," he admitted with an edge to the tone of his voice.

She flinched again, but nodded. She deserved his censure and he deserved the truth, though she hoped he would let it go once he knew it all since it was all in her past.

"I slept with Mirkal first, but it was completely a comfort thing after a really tough case. We were both a little bit drunk and neither of us was interested in repeating the experience. Sampson and I got together shortly after that, but we only lasted a few months; I bowed out when he fell in love with another woman. I then fell pretty quickly into Eric's arms but his feelings for me grew to be more than mine for him and I decided to end it as a kindness to him because I didn't feel the same way. I tumbled into the party scene for a few months there with the other two guys, but that ended when we were all absent at work one day. Alex came to my place first to find out if I was alright and found the three of us in bed together surrounded by empty bottles of alcohol. A _lot_ of them."

"Wait, wait; two guys at once?"

She hesitated before continuing; the list of those who knew this information she could count on one hand. But he was her husband and she either trusted him with this or she didn't.

"Alex got them awake but he couldn't wake me nor could he find my pulse. He called 9-1-1 and started CPR. Tests at the hospital confirmed I had a high alcohol concentration in my blood verging on alcohol poisoning and a commonly used rufi's drug. I'd said 'no' the night before because I didn't want to do both of them at the same time and they decided that I didn't know what I was missing out on. They're both still in jail for the charges that were laid that day."

He looked white as a sheet as he shifted closer and pulled her into his arms.

"You don't have to go on if you don't want to, but I would like to know."

She shrugged and pulled back a little so that she could see his face. She'd long since detached herself from the heavy feelings of guilt and shame surrounded with that moment in her life. "Phil comforted me throughout the trial and afterwards but eventually admitted that he was struggling with the knowledge that I'd been with all the other guys on the team before him except Alex so we split up with no hard feelings between us.

"What he said made me really think about my life and how I'd been spending it, culminating in the remembrance of what I couldn't actually remember thanks to the drugs and alcohol in my system. I decided then and there that I didn't want to be that person any longer and so I declared myself single and happy, took myself off the market and focused on my career and rebuilding my almost-completely-trashed reputation."

She watched him chew over the information she'd given him and was gradually relieved to see that he was calming down as he obviously worked it over in his mind. She wasn't proud of her actions, but she also couldn't change them and they really didn't have any bearing whatsoever on her character now. He would remember that and it would be alright. Then she just had the last hurdle to cover when she told him about Alex and then they were done with this conversation; hopefully forever.

"So now we get to Alex right?"

She nodded as she realised she'd have to wait for the final verdict on her actions. Well, she'd give him all the facts and then it was up to him what he did with them.

"I had been single for almost 6 months when Alex asked me out. I pointed out that I'd been with all the others before him and he said that none of the others had been as serious about me as he was so it didn't matter. He swept me off my feet, romanced me and before I knew it, he was proposing and I was thinking I was in love with him and that I'd finally gotten over you.

"But the closer we got to the wedding, the more uncertain I became about everything. Then one day I overheard him discussing with Phil that we would need to start having children straight away because I was getting too old to bear children safely." He smiled dryly at her and she returned the smile weakly as they both thought of how wrong he'd been. "I couldn't believe his audacity in not having discussed that with me first and so I called him out on it. He shrugged it off, said it wasn't that important in the grand scheme of things and of course we should have the family sooner so that we could be around for more years to enjoy it."

"So he basically ignored what you wanted because it didn't jive with what he wanted."

"That pretty much hits the nail on the head. I started to notice that he did that a lot; not just with me either, though I was more annoyed than anyone else by it probably because I was around that behaviour more frequently than anyone else. It made me start thinking about you and how we'd been together. You never belittled me and you were always willing to compromise where it wouldn't hurt anyone to do so. This of course made me start thinking about you all the time and brought me to the realisation that what I felt for Alex was completely pale in comparison to what I still felt for you.

"It was three days to the wedding and I knew I couldn't go through with it, that it would be disloyal to Alex to pretend to feelings I didn't actually have, so I arranged dinner at my place, sat him down and attempted to tell him the truth about what I'd realised. He ran right over my concerns and said everything would be fine once we were married and that our feelings for each other would grow over time. And because everything was ready for the day, I let him talk me out of cancelling the wedding and allowed him to take me to bed to show me how much he loved me.

"Three days later I was so ill over what to do I could barely function with it. How I got down the aisle I still don't know, but I was standing there facing him and the suddenness of how desperately I wished I was standing there getting married to you was a physical pain that nearly crippled me completely. I knew I absolutely _couldn't_ go through with it regardless of how many people were watching and so with the priest at that moment asking for any who objected to speak up, it just burst out of me that I couldn't do it. Everyone was still gasping and exclaiming in shock as I whispered an apology, took off my engagement ring and gave it back to him. Then I just picked up my skirts and ran.

"The limo driver was a lovely older man who'd noticed my unhappiness the moment he helped me into the car for the drive to the church so he was completely willing to help me make a quick getaway when I asked for his help. I stayed away for three weeks, returned only long enough to pack up my desk and say goodbye to everyone; this had all happened right before I got the appointment to your BAU team so I already had a completely legit escape planned and ready to go. I'd already tried to explain things to Alex, both in the lead-up to the wedding and after I ran but he'd ceased listening to anything I had to say. So I cut all ties and left that life behind. I stopped trying to be someone I wasn't, resigned myself to working with you _and_ my unrequited feelings and knuckled down to the job. You pretty much know the rest.

"I didn't mean not to tell you any of it Aaron; it's just that it ceased to be important to me the moment I realised I was back working with you. I buried it like I'd buried the painful sections of my past and I didn't think about it again until I realised that it was Alex who was supposedly coming to rescue us. I would have told you then, but he didn't give me the chance. And now it's up to you how you want to react to what I've said; just know that I won't hold it against you if you are furious with me. I fully believe you have every right to be. All I ask is that you try to find forgiveness for what I didn't say."

He shook his head slowly. "You know, there are actions in my past that I'm not proud of. The worst of it being the moment I chose Haley over you _knowing_ that I still had deep, abiding feelings for you. I have no right to judge you for your actions when we weren't together. Yes, I'm completely confused over why you haven't mentioned any of this to me before, but I can at the same time understand why you would want to forget such a painful past. So I won't penalise you now for your honesty; I just ask that from now on you keep no more secrets from me."

Her smiled trembled but held as she nodded slowly. "I can do that. I don't actually have any more such huge secrets that I am keeping, and I can't actually thinking of any little ones I may not have mentioned, but if I do remember any of them, I shall let you know immediately that it is appropriate to do so."

He nodded agreement and pulled her back into his arms for a long, deep kiss that turned quickly into something far more satisfying.

New Section

Teresa watched the boys in her care go running through the snow at the park and smiled tenderly at their enthusiasm.

"Are you thinking about what I _think_ you're thinking about?" Dave asked as he wrapped one arm around her waist and offered her a sip of his hot chocolate with the other.

She smiled slightly and murmured her thanks as she took the hot cardboard cup from him.

"I don't know what you think I'm thinking about; why don't you clue me in."

She could hear the smile in his voice when he next spoke a few seconds later. "I've watched you when you're spending time with any of the BAU children. You get all mushy and introspective. You're thinking about us having children."

He hadn't moved away from her; had in fact pulled her closer and splayed a hand across her stomach. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard a conversation to have as she'd thought it might be.

"I'll admit that a _huge_ part of me wants to have children. It always has, but I grew up in a loving family home and I want that for any children I have so up until you proposed I didn't think it was a possibility. Now that we are getting married, I can't stop thinking about it and it is in fact driving me crazy with wanting. I certainly don't want to do something that you aren't comfortable with, but I don't know if I'm in a position to really compromise on this."

He kissed the side of her head and they both turned slightly to keep the children in their line of sight as she handed the cup back to him and wondered that he hadn't caught on to what she'd said.

"Any chance you've been thinking about it too?" she asked hopefully.

"Only since I noticed you thinking about it."

"Oh, okay. Happy thoughts or not-so-happy ones?"

"The thought of you pregnant with my child makes me feel all primal, protective and strong and there is nothing that could possibly convince me not to try for a baby with you. You decide if they are happy thoughts or otherwise."

She turned in his arms to face him, watching as his eyes tracked the boys before he looked at her briefly and smiled. That smile told her he wasn't playing with her, that he meant what he said and he was definitely okay with it. He shifted them around again slightly as she cuddled in closer to his warmth and smiled as he muttered, "Surely those boys have to be getting tired sometime soon. They're making me dizzy."

She smothered a laugh as Dave called to the boys to come back a little closer. She heard their affirmative shouts and felt Dave relax further.

"Primal, protective and strong?"

He shrugged and shot her a quick grin. "What can I say; I'm a throwback to another era."

She nodded slow agreement. "So that's code for you making the next eight and a half months of my life a misery with your over-protective attitude."

His grin slipped into a frown and then became understanding as his eyes grew huge in his face just as the boys came running up.

"Uncle Dave, we're _hungry_."

She could see him struggling to pay attention to the world outside of his arms though he did eventually manage it after shooting her a dark look which she returned with a serene smile.

"Aren't you boys always hungry?" he asked mildly. They shook their heads as they tried to look innocent. But considering lunch had been just under an hour ago, the adults weren't fooled. Dave sighed. "Alright then; let's see if we can find an honest-to-goodness hotdog vendor somewhere on the way back to the hotel."

The boys cheered and started talking excitedly about what they wanted on their hotdogs.

"You know you'll spoil their dinner," Teresa murmured softly as they all started walking.

"Yes, but I can return them to their parents with happy reports from all concerned about the day. In the end, that is all that matters."

"Hotch or Emily?"

"I'd like to say Hotch, but Emily is the one that has me shaking in my boots. And don't think that I'm not coming back to that announcement and what I _think_ it means at our earliest convenience. You are in big trouble my love; you can't just spring something like that on me when I can't immediately follow it up without getting arrested."

Her laughter rang out across the park as they strolled along behind the excited boys in front of them and thought of the conversation to come.

**End-**

**A/N: I wonder if any of you picked up on my reference in chapter 11 as to _everyone_ having something 'kooky' in their blood work. Or are you all sitting there and thinking 'Huh?' Hope you like my little surprise. **

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Apologies to all for not having this out Friday as planned. I pulled out my laptop and booted it up, reached for my USB stick and had a bit of a panic attack because I couldn't find it. Turns out I'd left it at work, but that left all of you without the planned update. But now here it is.**

**But first, there are several misconceptions I need to clear up.**

**(1) Alex may be a pushy guy and things with Emily and the wedding may have gotten completely out of hand, but he would never physically hurt her, nor would he break the law to drug and rape her. That act was committed by the two nameless guys who were replaced on the team by Cassie and Clare; Alex actually saved Emily's life.**

**(2) Just to clarify Teresa's age for all interested, she is about 36. Yes, there is a significant age gap between her and Dave, but I don't think love knows what a barrier is, so there you have it.**

**(3) Okay, so my reference to all of the girls having kooky blood work still stands but not everyone is pregnant. Remember Jordan had low iron levels, we still don't know what Emily's issue is and I haven't even touched on Carrie yet and may not at all unless I feel it might actually be relevant.**

**Oh but you make my heart swell to bursting with warmth and happiness to read your words and know you like what I've written. The continued warm fuzzies are just amazing and I have to say I love you all to pieces. The reviewers making my day and keeping a constant smile on my dial are Wtiger5, HGRHfan35, greengirl82, miaa29, Hazmatt and HPforever-after. Because I love you all so much, the rest of this story is specifically dedicated to the six of you because you so consistently lift my spirits.**

**But I am dedicating this specific chapter to the wonderful Wtiger5 in the hopes that if the other piece didn't make you feel any better, this one will. Love you sweetie.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 17

"Does it make me a bad mother that I want to trade in Ben for Chloe and India?" Jordan asked with a yawn as she entered the living area of their suite of rooms.

Derek watched her come towards him and felt a stirring in his body. She may have been exhausted, but dressed as she was in a pair of snug jeans and a warm sweater that clung to her substantial curves, she was totally messing with his libido.

She eyed him closely as he shifted and shook her head just slightly. "Down boy; I'm too tired for anything more than a cuddle."

He grinned and held out his arms. He couldn't do anything with his arousal, but he could ignore it as much as it would let him. She'd been through enough without having to deal with him pushing her before she was ready. He forced himself to be content just holding her when what he really wanted more than anything was to strip her down and see for himself that her body was unmarked by her ordeal.

"Ben was just missing you love, as much as I was. He's ten months old; old enough to realise when mummy is missing from his life and certainly old enough to pick up on the undercurrents flowing around him. I was trying to stay calm for him but underneath the surface I was in a panic because I didn't know where you were or if you were safe and I'm sure he picked up on that. Unfortunately that has messed with his schedule a bit, but we'll get him back on track."

"Then why aren't the Hotchner girls as unsettled?"

She shifted to lie on the couch with her head in his lap and he immediately started running his fingers through her hair as he shrugged. "I honestly don't know the answer to that question. Maybe the turmoil they already went through while Emily carried them and then the birthing process was so traumatic for them they are subconsciously thinking nothing else could ever be that bad." She raised an eyebrow in disbelief and he chuckled. "I didn't say it was truth love. I just don't know the answer. But hopefully Ben will take some of their calm into him and he'll be back to normal when he wakes."

She yawned again hugely, feeling sleepy with Derek's scent all around her and his hand stroking gently through her hair. She snuggled closer and murmured, "Do you think about doing it again?"

His hand stopped moving for a moment and then resumed that same gentle glide through her hair. "I've thought about it a lot, particularly since Ben has been a part of our lives."

"And?"

He smiled at her sleepy tone. She really was the sexiest woman alive and he sent up yet another prayer of thanks that she was here, safe by his side, being sexy even as she fell asleep on him.

"And I think in a year or two it would be a good idea to go again but I'm in no hurry."

She nodded under his hand. "Sounds go..." Another yawn interrupted her before she continued. "Sounds good. How would you feel if I stopped working full time and went to part-time hours with a view to seeing how I might do staying home with Ben and any other children we may have until they go off to school?"

His hand stilled again and this time it didn't resume. She forced her eyes open to better gauge his reaction to her announcement.

"You've been thinking about this a lot."

"Well first we nearly lost Ben to the ocean. Then I nearly lost my life to Vincent's attack. Then it was you I nearly lost and then for whatever reason it was my turn to be in trouble again."

He grinned suddenly. "Well when you put it like that..."

She thumped him hard and pushed back her exhaustion as she sat up beside him. She pulled her hair away from her face and turned to look at this man she loved more than any other.

"I'm dead serious Derek. Being on maternity leave and home so much with Ben has given me a greater understanding of all that my life has been missing. A sense of home, a family environment that feels loving and healthy. You travel a lot with your work and I get that but so do I and I don't feel that it's fair to ask our children to have to grow up with both of us absent, even if we are home with them as frequently as we can manage it. And besides, I haven't really been enjoying my job for a long while."

He frowned, suddenly all serious and attentive. "Why didn't you say something sooner? I would have supported you if you'd wanted to make changes in your life earlier. And how long have you been feeling so unhappy with your work?"

She smiled slightly and lifted her hand to lightly trace his frown. "I think I'm still struggling to get rid of the last vestiges of my single lifestyle so every now and again something crops up that I keep to myself out of habit. I'm not deliberately trying to shut you out of my life and I _am_ getting better at sharing _all_ of me. I know you would have supported me; you've never once indicated you aren't happy right where you are and I treasure your love and support in my life.

"But I'd been slightly discontented in Counter Terrorism for a little while before JJ approached me about working with you guys and then coming on board with all of you and seeing what a family you were even then...I went back to my unit and told myself to be happy where I was but it just got worse and worse. Then we got together and Ben happened and we got married and I lost sight of how unhappy I was for a while there because I was really, truly happy for the first time in my adult life but then I had too much time on my hands to think and it just made things worse all over again."

She stopped talking and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Maybe now isn't the time to dump this all over you, but I'm learning the hard way to take every moment as it comes because there just may not be a tomorrow. And I don't want to wake up with regrets because I kept quiet about the things that mattered to me."

He shifted her until she straddled him, the body contact intimate despite their clothing between them but the eye contact even more so as he cupped her face in his hands.

"Jordan, you are my wife, but more than that you are the other half of my soul; whatever concerns you also concerns me because your happiness is tantamount to my own. I know we have both had our struggles in making our relationship work but we are certainly stronger together so we'll get there in the end and it's okay to admit you might still be struggling in some areas; I know I am. But I push through because I fully believe you are worth it and I love you more than anything else in life.

"As to stepping down from full-time to part-time when you return to work, I think its a great idea if it is what _you_ want. And if you want to quit work altogether for the time being to be a stay-at-home mother, I will completely support you in this also because the thought is a total turn-on for me for some reason I can't explain." She smiled despite the tears running down her face as he continued. "We can easily afford it and knowing I would _always_ be coming home to you would be an even greater incentive for me to come home to you in one piece, or to simply come home at all. As long as when you make your decision you don't make the one everyone else wants you to make; be a bit selfish in this and grab on to your happiness; you've more than earned it."

She was sobbing outright now, unable to see and uncaring because her heart already knew what was right in front of her as Derek eased her closer still and kissed her slowly and deeply. He soothed the turmoil in her, his touch whispering that it was alright, that she was loved and cherished and desired. And when her crying eased, the message changed as well.

She responded hungrily as the pressure at her mouth increased. Her hands slid up his bare arms to stroke across his shoulders and neck before sliding up over his head as his lips shifted from hers and drifted across to the sensitive skin at the back of her ears.

All thoughts but those of the man surrounding her fled as his lips settled just behind her earlobe and suckled hard. She whimpered and writhed, trying to break the insistent contact but his hands held her fast as she came apart in his arms.

"Clits are so overrated," he murmured smugly as her body collapsed over his, causing her to smile slightly. "Just rest love, you're safe here with me."

She didn't even have the breath to answer as sleep came up to sweep her over-wrought and exhausted body into its arms.

New Section

Teresa yawned hugely in response to the huge yawns Jack and Toby were releasing almost every minute as they walked back to their suite after a _very_ long morning. Dave looked at the boys, then at her and chuckled softly, but he said nothing as he opened the door. He stayed silent as he steered the boys down to one of the spare rooms and onto one of the beds. They lay down and were out like lights. He pulled their shoes off, tucked a blanket around them and stepped out of the room.

Looking towards the living area, he saw it was deserted, so he walked down to the bedroom he shared with the love of his life and smiled softly. She'd sprawled on the bed and was sound asleep, her glorious fall of mahogany brown hair spread out underneath her.

He walked to the bed and removed her shoes much as he'd done for the children before he stretched out beside her. He'd cover her up to keep her warm in a minute, but he was sorely tempted in that second to wake her up and ask her to clarify her earlier statement.

"_So that's code for you making the next eight and a half months of my life a misery with your over-protective attitude."_

He knew from JJ and Emily in particular that pregnancy lasted for ten months; if that was true, Teresa was saying she was six weeks pregnant. The thought of his child growing inside of her reduced him to awe-struck incoherency.

He lay his hand lightly on her stomach; then deciding he wanted skin to skin contact, he shifted her sweater out of the way and splayed his hand across her bare skin, marvelling that something he couldn't even detect yet was already developing into a human being. He shook his head slightly. As a young man, he'd contemplated getting married and having a family, but as the years went by, he'd struggled to find a woman who could actually deal with the man he was. He was Italian, and he freely admitted that the things said about Italian arrogance were entirely true. Coupled with a job with the FBI, most women saw only his looks until they realised he wasn't going to change for them and then they all walked out.

Then he'd quit the FBI to write full-time and things changed, though not in any ways that were beneficial to his goals. The women he met saw his fame and his money and though his good looks continued to be a bonus, most of them left because of his sheer arrogance and the hours he spent chained to his computer when his muse gripped him. So he'd stopped seeing women and concentrated on his career, taking the time to work uninterrupted on one of his most famous books to date.

Even his three wives had left him, deciding he wasn't worth the trouble in the end.

And then there was Teresa, starving herself for her career and hungry for something that actually appealed to the sharp mind hiding behind her stunning green eyes. To this day, he still didn't know what had possessed him to go to the lengths he had to not only save her life but to give her an entirely new one. However, over the years, his reasoning hadn't mattered one bit as she'd proven to be worth her weight in gold. Though he'd nearly thrown her out on her delicious derriere when she had made her first move, firmly putting her in her place and ordering her to never try anything like that again. And she hadn't.

He'd spent years kicking himself for that initial rejection as his interest in her slowly grew and at the same time looking for any signal she might have put out that told him she was still interested in him as a man. There hadn't been even one and he'd just about stopped hoping that he'd get another chance; then she'd made her second move on him and he'd seen his second chance and despite the mistakes he'd already made in life, he'd quickly jumped to take advantage of the moment before him. And again he'd never regretted his decision.

The decision to stop with the book tours had been easy to make and yet one of the most difficult of decisions; easy in that he'd tired of being in the limelight; hard because his choice would put a stop to spending those tour months wrapped up in her feminine warmth.

Only to himself would he ever admit to being terrified of being without her and furious with himself for his weakness and vulnerability. But she was without a doubt his greatest strength and asking her to marry him had in the end been the easiest thing in the world to do; it had also been the only thing she'd ever threatened to leave him over; his constant bemoaning his stupidity in waiting so long to make her his. She'd told him to let it go or she was walking out the door and never coming back. She said everyone made mistakes, he'd made a doozy and a half of this one, but he was more than making up for it so she didn't want it coming up ever again.

He knew now that none of it mattered. He'd thought himself well past his prime and yet here this amazing woman was, all set to become his wife and creating life in her womb that _he'd_ placed there; his Italian pride was _very_ pleased with this knowledge. He'd nearly lost her several times both through his own actions and through the actions of others, but he'd finally figured out what an amazing gift she was and he was never giving her up.

He shifted until his head rested on the pillow and shifted her up and into his arms as he snagged the blanket at the foot of the bed and pulled it up over them both. She stirred slightly in his arms and mumbled something unintelligible, nuzzled his throat slightly and then settled again.

He smiled as love threatened to overwhelm him and as sleep claimed him, he vowed that he would never again hesitate to see the precious gifts set before him.

**End-**

**A/N: Not a lot to say here except that I hope you are enjoying the calm before the return of the storm.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I know I'm probably driving you all mad with all the downtime chapters I keep feeding you, but they'll continue for another few before I come back with a bang, so please continue to be patient with me; we are definitely getting closer to the action. It will hopefully be worth your wait and I shall endeavour to update as frequently as I can so you aren't left waiting too long.**

**Reviews are gold to me, and worth so much more because gold can be spent or stolen but I keep all my reviews in the one place so I can treasure all your encouragements and on my bad days, find warm fuzzies to make me happy again. My solid gold bars for chapter 17 came from Hazmatt, greengirl82, Wtiger5, HGRHfan35, miaa29 and HPforever-after. Thanks for being so faithful to let me know what you think guys...I really do appreciate it more than I can put into words. ****J**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 18

She was utterly exhausted and not even _nearly_ done for the day; how she longed to just put her head down and weep.

"Emily?"

She turned. _He_ was the only reason she was still going and she wondered if there would _ever_ be enough time in her life to get across to him how very completely she loved him.

She started slightly as something heavy and warm settled upon her shoulders. His worry for her was obvious but his touch was so gentle and tender...she closed her eyes against the threat of tears that pressed closer as she saw the depth of his love for her in his eyes.

"Emily?"

"I'm alright," she whispered.

"Clearly that's a lie. Don't shut me out; talk to me."

She nodded and stepped in closer to the heat his body was putting out. The only time she'd felt warm since the night before was when he was making love to her only an hour ago. But the second he'd left her body to dress for their trip here to the office, she'd been cold again. She knew distantly it was shock and she also knew that Alex was a part of it, but he was a small, very distant part. The greater shock came from the knowledge that she would have to relive what she'd been through a second time as she told whoever interviewed her about what she'd experienced.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for this."

He nodded as he folded her close. "I think I understand that, but unfortunately we need to know what you do and the sooner we get that information from you, the less likely we are to lose any important information you may know. Perhaps it wouldn't be so important if the other girls hadn't all indicated that you were the only one who could understand what those men were saying. We urgently need this. Otherwise I'd sweep you up and run off with you and they could all go to hell."

She smiled just slightly at his fiercely protective attitude and loved him even more.

"I don't know how to put it in words enough to adequately cover what I mean." He tipped his head to the side, curiosity on his face. She lifted her hand to touch his cheek. "I don't know how to explain to you the depths of how very much I love you."

He turned his head and kissed her palm, his hold on her not easing even slightly.

"Not a second, a breath, a heartbeat go by for me where I don't love you with everything I am. Not just with a love that burns steady either, but with a love that is always growing and deepening with every moment. Whether I'm here with you like this, or far away from you it doesn't seem to make any difference. I just love you."

The tears she'd been trying to hold back slipped out and tracked down her cheeks. She thought she'd done enough crying to last a lifetime, but apparently she wasn't done just yet. He waited her out, holding her shaking body close and slowly, as her tears eased completely, slowly she became aware that she felt warm inside again where it counted.

"Did that come close to what you wanted to say?"

She nodded and tipped her head back to look at him again. "I don't know quite how I got so lucky as to find you a second time, but your unconditional love and acceptance are healing something in me I wasn't even aware was still broken. Thank you."

He captured her mouth in a deep, drugging kiss that she more than returned while she wished desperately that she was actually alone with him again. She could feel him deep inside where it counted and hoped that he could feel even slightly from her what she was getting from him in that moment. Her heart was so full it was overflowing.

He pulled back as a gust of wind whipped snow in a small frenzy around them, causing them both to shiver slightly. He offered her his hand and she took it with a small smile, allowing him to lead her into the tall building in front of them. She was calmer than she'd been in days and for the first time since she'd seen Alex again, she actually felt confident enough in herself to hold her own if he started accusing her again.

Not that she thought he would, not with Aaron so protective at her side. He steered her through the bullpen and into a side room. Everyone turned to look at them and she winced just slightly.

_I definitely think he'll be keeping to the back._

Alex looked her over from top to bottom, flicked a look at Aaron who had tensed at her side, then away. She hadn't seen him wind up, but she'd seen him hit her ex-fiancé hard enough to knock him back a few feet from her after his words had escalated to him shouting at her while she was trying to wind the situation down so she could go to bed the night before. He'd shoved her in anger and while she'd been struggling with the shock of being threatened by someone she'd once admired and respected, Aaron had turned on him. Only Sampson's presence had kept Aaron from beating the other man to a pulp, but it had been that shove that had ended the conversation.

She bit her lip to keep from turning to Aaron and kissing him in gratitude. Alex had a massive bruise down the right side of his face and his eye was swollen completely shut. She knew it was mean, but a small part of her thrilled to see him hurt and know that it was _her_ man who'd dealt out the damage.

Phil came towards her, shot Aaron a wary look, but still pulled her into his arms like he'd obviously intended to do. She hugged him back, but quickly stepped back to Aaron's side. She didn't want him hurting Phil, who had only ever been good to her.

"Emily, I didn't get a chance to say it the other night so I'm going to say it now and then we'll get down to business. You look amazing, congratulations on your marriage and your children who, by the way, are absolutely enchanting, and I'm really glad that you are alive and safe, not just because you will be a fount of much-see desperately-needed information."

She blushed slightly and after a hesitant look at Aaron to see that he was somewhat relaxed, she stepped from his side, embraced Phil a second time and then made her way around the room. She hugged the guys and enquired briefly about their lives since they'd last been in contact and she introduced herself formally to the two female agents, thanking them for their parts in caring for her children when she herself wasn't available. The only time Aaron made any sound at all was when she was within feet of Alex; however the other man stayed leaning against the wall with his hands behind his back so she was past him quickly enough for Aaron to feel confident staying where he was. And his confidence was hers as she made her way back to stand with him.

"So how is this going to work?"

"We're going to wait for your nanny, Carrie, to arrive and then we'll interview the two of you together. That way, things you might say might jog her to remember more and vice versa."

Emily groaned internally. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Some of the things I heard I really wish I hadn't and with Carrie's past, I'm not so sure she needs to know any of it that she doesn't already."

Cassie smiled. "Then perhaps we can go off to the side here and you can tell all of us what you heard and when Carrie arrives, we'll still interview you together, but you can just say something like, 'they conversed together for a minute before' or something similar without going into the details that you have already given us."

Phil nodded. "That works for me as well. Good thinking Cassie. Emily?"

She nodded with a small smile. "That works for me also, as does the sitting down part. I'm really very tired right now."

So she sat down at the table opposite Cassie, with Aaron at her side and the rest of the men strewn around the table on all sides, each with a notepad. Clare positioned herself near the door and stated that she would keep an eye out for Carrie and Mirkal, who also hadn't as yet arrived.

Emily kept her suspicions to herself about Mirkal also being absent. Particularly after an interesting and extremely private, girls only, conversation she'd once had with Carrie.

"How many languages do you speak Emily?" Cassie asked curiously.

"Three fluently, one not so much." At her enquiring look, she elaborated, "I speak Arabic, Spanish and Italian, but only a little bit of Russian. I read that last better than I speak it. You?"

"Spanish, French, Russian and Chinese fluently, as well as US sign language and a little Arabic and German. Again, I read the last two better than speaking them, but I can also write them better as well. The girls mentioned that the men who had you were speaking Arabic?"

"The two in the back with us conducted the majority of their conversation in Arabic, though they did speak heavily accented English when they addressed us. The two in the front only spoke in the last minute as the van started to slow and they too spoke Arabic, though not with the same confidence."

"How could you tell?"

"Their hesitancy, as if they were sounding the words out in their heads to ensure they came out right before speaking them. I've spent most of my life around people who are just beginning to learn a language so I know what it sounds like. They'd been speaking Arabic for years, but it wasn't their first language and that they still had to think about it tells me they aren't all that confident in it, even if they are fully in with the enemy."

"Enemy?" Phil asked curiously.

She shrugged and looked down. "The profiler in me carefully catalogued everything I saw, heard, smelt or touched so that I could give the most information should we get free. But I am still a victim and I will still have nightmares for years to come. You guys can refer to them as unsubs; I'll call them the enemy."

Aaron's hands settled on her tense shoulders and started a slow massage that made her want to melt as relaxation settled into her muscles. He finished the massage with a brief hug around her shoulders before stepping back again.

She lifted her head slowly and found everyone was watching her calmly, not seeming to be in a hurry to continue as they waited for her to pull herself together. She took a deep breath, settled herself more comfortably in the chair and nodded slightly.

"Okay, so thinking back to the first time they spoke a foreign language in front of you, were you surprised that they weren't using English?"

She shook her head slowly. "Not really. I could see from just the look of them that they weren't born in the US, or if they were, they had ancestors that definitely weren't. And their accents were incredibly thick."

"What were they discussing in the first instance?"

"They were happy that holding knives to JJ and Penelope had gained them the cooperation of the entire group and that we didn't appear to be looking for ways to escape; they were also happy that they hadn't had to cut anyone as they brought us under their control."

Cassie grinned. "I'll take it as a given that you were already assessing every variable looking for an avenue of escape, no matter how slim the hoped-for outcome might have looked. So this conversation was happening when exactly?"

"We were walking to the van, about 3 metres from us."

"Did they say anything else then?" When she'd shaken her head, Cassie made a notation on her notepad and asked, "What came next?"

"They threatened us a fair bit in English and said we would be driving for a long while so we might as well make ourselves comfortable. Penelope asked about toilet breaks and they said they'd think about it. She pointed out that a pregnant woman couldn't hold it as long as the rest of us and they told her in a more forceful voice that they'd think about it. It was obvious that if she continued to push him for a better answer, he wouldn't hesitate to hurt her to make a point. So she stopped speaking and they lapsed back into Arabic.

"It hurt to hear what they had to say. I gathered they were brothers from the way the younger one listened attentively to the older one explain that the younger one had a difficult choice to make; whether to abort Pen and JJ's babies medically or whether to let them go into the Ritual of Rebellion as they were and to see how they did coming out of it."

"Ritual of Rebellion?" Alex asked.

Emily turned her head slightly to regard him for a moment before she returned her attention fully to the woman in front of her.

"From what they were saying, I got the impression the woman is stripped naked, placed in a room with three 'holy men' for lack of a better term, and beaten almost to death in order to remove any spirits of rebellion they may have attached to them. They're then checked over by a doctor to ensure they aren't actually going to die and then they get placed in the temporary accommodation that is granted to the women who have not yet been through the marriage ceremony. Those women who are pregnant when they are taken are cleansed of the babe in their womb before the ritual to minimise the potential harm to the wife if a spirit latches on to the babe and causes excessive bleeding to occur."

"That's barbaric," Clare muttered angrily at the same time Alex challenged her quietly.

"How are you so certain of all that you've just told us?"

She shot him another look as she reigned in her annoyance over what would otherwise have been an extremely valid question. "By the sounds of it, the older brother had gone through this process twice and is mentoring the younger brother, who appeared to me to be slightly nervous, but desperate not to show this to someone he clearly idolises."

"What did they say next?" Cassie asked, shooting a look at Alex that clearly told him to stow whatever he was about to say in reply.

"The younger one asked his brother if the ritual could be skipped if he chose to let the women keep their babies and the older one shook his head sadly and said, "Remember the Rose Garden". The younger man flinched slightly, nodded gravely and that appeared to end that part of the conversation."

"Did they ever mention the Rose Garden again?"

"No. I gave it some thought when things were quiet and again over the last couple of days and I came to a fairly solid conclusion once I realised from Aaron how many women may have been kidnapped successfully before us." When Cassie nodded to her to share, she continued, "I figure that somewhere along the way, in maybe one or more times, someone tried to escape or perhaps in the early days bring others together to rebel against the men who held them. If they hadn't thought it all through, they may have simply killed those women and perhaps the Rose Garden is where they were buried. This is all just speculation of course."

Cassie nodded slowly. "Speculation it may be, but we are all about the theories at the moment since we have such little in the way of facts so I'll note that down and we can come back on it later. What next?"

"They stayed silent for a long time after that; they were clearly thinking about different things because the older one looked happy, and happier the further we went. The younger one looked troubled by something."

"Did they discuss..."

"No," Emily interrupted with a slight shake of her head. "The next time they spoke, the van was coming to a halt and they were threatening us to stay still and be quiet or someone would die. The drivers changed over and then we were off again. For the most part, they didn't talk a lot but they also didn't seem to mind if we talked quietly amongst ourselves either. The problem was, whenever they did speak, I would stop, so I think they may have figured out that I might understand what they were saying. But I'm not completely sure of that fact."

"So did they say anything else that might help us find them?"

"No...I really wish they had. But after that initial conversation, they only really spoke in English until right before we bailed out on the interchange. Then the discussion was focused on trying to figure out what was going on and what they should do. I may have missed parts of that discussion because I was fully focused on looking for the perfect opening. Everyone was looking at me and I was feeling the van as it slowed to a stop and thinking that this might be our only chance. Particularly since Austin was already bleeding badly and we didn't know what was happening; I knew we didn't have time to hesitate."

"That's understandable." She shot a look at Clare as the other woman made a soft noise. Cassie nodded her understanding and asked about the moments when Emily was assisting with getting all the women out of the van. Emily started trying to work through what she actually remembered about their rapid escape as Carrie walked in the door followed closely by Mirkal. Watching their body language, she smothered a smile.

_Carrie and I are definitely overdue for a little heart to heart; oh yes we are._

**End-**

**A/N: We're getting closer...**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Alright, so I've been away from work for the last few days firstly for a conference and then for a public holiday. Then I came back to a crazy-busy Friday at work followed by a similar type of weekend. But now I'm back and here is the conversation (grilling) everyone is eagerly awaiting between Emily and Carrie.**

**My reviews are currently helping me through a heatwave at the moment. All of you saying such nice things are filling me with warm fuzzies, which are distracting me from the fact that I'm dying here thanks to 40+ (Celsius) and high humidity. This is one of those times where I really wish it were cold...anyone experiencing Winter want to house swap with me? Anyways, huge big thanks to HGRHfan35 (both for chapter 18 and The Road to Nowhere, Life's An Alphabet and The Quiet Moments), Hazmatt, HPforever-after, Wtiger5 and greengirl82. Thanks for being so faithful to let me know what you think guys...I really do appreciate it more than I can put into words. **

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 19

Emily narrowed her eyes as she watched Mirkal slip out the door ahead of their exit. She had no doubt about where he was going, but she did doubt that Carrie, clearly impatient to go, would get back to her room as fast as either of them would like.

She slipped her arm through Carrie's as they stepped out of the FBI building and into a light snowfall. "How'd you get here?"

Carrie shot her a quick look and shrugged as she looked down. "I caught a taxi."

_Mhmm...sure you did. You need to work on your lying skills, particularly when lying to a profiler._

"Well then, Aaron and I will take you back to the motel with us. You'll have trouble getting a taxi now that it's started to snow again."

She smiled slightly and nodded. "That would be great, thanks."

_Sure it is...you'll just have to text Mirkal not to wait for you and you really need to work on hiding your impatience better as well._

They walked in silence to the nearby parking lot and Aaron handed them both into the car before getting in himself and starting it up. They were about a minute into the trip when she heard a soft rustling coming from the back seat and checking the mirror briefly to see Carrie pulling out her mobile, she smiled in amusement.

_I wonder if you seriously think you're fooling anyone?_

She shot a look at Aaron, who was focused on the road and controlling the car in the icy conditions. Despite that, and the dark surrounding them, she could see the faint smile curving his lips slightly and as he pulled to a halt at a red light, he shot her the briefest of grins as he flicked a look towards the woman sitting in the back. She returned the grin with the silent message that she would get all the goss and share it with him later. He inclined his head just slightly in agreement and they settled back into stillness as he started them moving forward again.

When they arrived back at the motel, Aaron again helped them out and offered an arm to each of them. Emily accepted gracefully but had to cough to keep a snort of amusement to herself at the reluctance Carrie quickly hid with a smile and murmured thanks.

_She honestly thinks she's going to get away without a grilling...ooh, this is gonna be fun._

Aaron led them up the stairs to the balcony running on the second level of rooms where Derek and Jordan and Dave and Teresa had their rooms.

Emily lifted a hand to knock and winced at the pained look on Derek's face as he opened the door; they could immediately hear babies crying.

Despite her clear need to be somewhere else in a hurry, the part of Carrie's brain that allowed her to be an amazing nanny clearly kicked in and she slipped past Derek to head in the direction of all the noise. Her own mother's heart beginning to cry in sympathy, Emily ran a hand in comfort down Derek's arm and followed the younger woman into the main room of the suite.

"You could have called if you were having issues with the girls. I would have come to the rescue."

Derek snorted slightly as he shook his head. "Don't be silly man; Emily needed you more. And truthfully, they were doing just great until Ben woke screaming from his nap. Then they all just got more and more worked up. It's only been this bad for the last ten minutes."

Aaron nodded as the ladies returned, with Jordan and Ben in tow dressed warmly.

"I'm going to walk with Ben down to where Emily and Carrie have rooms. I'm hoping the movement will soothe him enough that I can get him back to sleep."

"I could take him..."

"Actually, you could go with Aaron to pick up the boys and bring them down to us. Then, when you get there, you can walk Jordan and Ben back to here."

Derek narrowed his eyes as he looked at the innocently sweet smile on Emily's face and the look on his wife's that clearly told him to leave it alone. Figuring Jordan or Aaron, who looked slightly too knowing for his liking, would tell him what he was missing, he nodded obediently and kissed his wife and son as they passed him on their way out the door. By the time he'd grabbed his jacket, and key card, the girls were out of sight and hearing.

"You going to fill me in or do I have to wait for Jordan?"

Aaron checked his watch and sighed. "Damn; less than a minute. You do realise I now owe Em twenty bucks thanks to you, don't you?"

"I do now. Well?"

"Did you notice anything odd about Carrie's behaviour just now?"

He frowned, trying to think what Carrie had to do with anything as he remembered their brief exchange in the doorway.

"No; shouldn't you be asking Dave that question? After all, he was the one collecting the boys today."

Aaron shook his head. "Maybe we should update your observation skills. Carrie turned up late today with Mirkal in tow, both of them acting like they'd just met up in the lobby. But it was clearly obvious to both Emily and I that they'd come from her room. And she was obviously trying to break away from both of us just now until she realised she was needed and her mother's heart kicked in."

Derek's frown deepened as he tried to fathom what his boss meant. They were almost to Dave's room before it hit him.

"They aren't."

"We're pretty certain they are."

"Jordan and Em are going to grill her aren't they?"

"Absolutely...and we'll hear all about it later."

"All about what?" Teresa asked from behind them as she peered out the door at them.

"About Carrie and Mirkal."

Her eyes went huge. "They aren't."

Aaron just grinned at her as her jaw dropped and gently moved her to the side so they could enter the warm room. His moving her seemed to wake her up though because she immediately moved to pick up her jacket.

"Dave, I'm going downstairs to join a really juicy conversation. Don't wait up for me."

"Whoa...what'd I miss?" Dave demanded as he appeared from the back room.

"Girl talk is what you missed and what I am currently missing. The guys will clue you in."

"Come back here! That jacket isn't nearly warm enough!"

"Oh please. I'll be inside for most of the time anyway I'm sure. Entertain your guests and I'll be back. Or better yet, help Aaron collect Jack and Toby and you can make your way downstairs to see I'm taking perfectly good care of myself and to _eventually_ walk me back upstairs."

"But..."

Her laughter met him as he stood frowning in the doorway and he growled as he turned to the other two men.

"Did you have to tell her?"

"Why are you so protective of her Dave? It's not even that cold outside; she'll be fine."

"It's not the same and there's ice on the ground."

"Which she is just as aware of as you," Aaron said thoughtfully as he narrowed a look at his older friend. "Dave, what aren't you telling us?"

Dave muttered something under his breath as his face went red and he turned away.

Derek leaned over to Aaron and murmured, "If I point out that Dave has a secret he doesn't want to share with us, can I skip the observation training?"

Aaron chuckled as they followed Dave to the spare room where the boys were sound asleep on the spare bed.

"Behaviour like yours Dave, is very reminiscent of Derek's over-protective behaviour towards Jordan while she was expecting Ben and much the same as mine with the twins. Is there anything you want to share with us?"

New Section

By the time they'd hit the bottom of the stairs, all three babies had stopped crying and fallen asleep. The three women exchanged amused looks as they tucked blankets closer and adjusted holds to that which was more comfortable.

Emily waited until they were standing in the shadows near the parking lot at the end of the building before turning to Carrie and saying, "Spill."

Carrie looked startled for a moment, but even in the dark it was obvious to both Jordan and Emily that she was blushing. Chloe shifted in her arms and Carrie used it as a distraction but when she looked up, the older women were waiting with all the patience they'd learnt in their jobs with the FBI. Feeling defeated, Carrie sighed heavily.

"How'd you figure it out?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "Sugar, _what_ do I do for a living?"

Carrie's blush deepened as she sighed again.

"Is he the guy you mentioned for your first kiss in India that night Penelope challenged us?" Jordan asked curiously as she settled Ben deeper into her embrace.

Carrie nodded slowly. "Yes. I wasn't so sure at first when he arrived at the hospital, but the more I kept studying his face, the more I knew it was him. Then he confirmed it and we talked when he should have been interviewing me over the kidnapping and then...well...um..."

"Okay, I'm here. What'd I miss?"

Emily laughed at the dismayed look on Carrie's face as Jordan filled Teresa in, finishing with, "Where are the guys? I thought for sure they'd be here now doing the protective thing after what we've been through recently."

Teresa snorted elegantly. "No doubt they're still back in our room grilling Dave."

Jordan frowned as Carrie asked eagerly, "Why are they grilling Dave?"

Teresa wagged a finger back and forth. "That's neither here nor there. What's up with you and the hunky Indian guy."

Carrie's hands balled into fists as she said through gritted teeth, "Get your eyes off my man and keep them on your own."

All three women shifted back slightly at the fierce look on Carrie's face but even as they did that, Carrie realised what she'd done and groaned.

"Teresa, I'm so sorry. I know you're just teasing but..."

"Never mind that, just give me all the gossip my one-track mind can handle and then I'll tell you why Dave's being grilled."

Carrie ducked her head and continued shyly, "Anyway, we...um...we kissed in the waiting room at the hospital..."

"What?" Emily and Teresa chorused.

Jordan grinned and lifted a hand to exchange a high-five with Carrie. "Way to go!" When everyone just stared at her in shock, she continued, "Derek and I..."

"Stop _right_ there! Anything that starts with that sentence isn't something that I want to touch," Emily said as she hitched a shoulder up to one ear and used her free hand to cover the other.

Jordan grinned and poked her before turning back to Carrie. "If you want any tips about keeping it daring and adventurous, I'm your gal. Right, so you kissed in the waiting room with the kids sleeping less than metres away from you and then what happened?"

Emily groaned. "This is getting worse; did you _have_ to say that? You kissed with my children in the room?"

Carrie looked at her in confusion. "You and Aaron do that with them present all the time. What's the difference?"

"That is totally not the same thing at all. Aaron and I are very careful what we do..."

Carrie interrupted with a snort. "Please...I do _not_ consider forgetting anyone is in the room and removing pieces of clothing in the heat of the moment _careful_."

Emily went beet red and muttered, "They were just jackets. We were a bit hot is all."

Carrie sighed. "I had to take the boys out of the room; trust me, they weren't _just_ jackets."

"Maybe we should go back to what happened after you and Mirkal kissed," Emily said hastily, and unknowingly provoking Carrie into blushing again.

"This is really embarrassing and yet very sweet at the same time. Um, we were just staring into each other's eyes after the kiss when I, um, well I, um, I yawned."

"Yawned," Teresa stated flatly, clearly unimpressed with her follow-up.

Carrie nodded as her blush deepened. "He just smiled tenderly at me and suggested we could take this up again tomorrow if we could find someone willing to look after Toby for us and then he walked me back to bed while a nurse kept an eye on the children. I guess Clare and Cassie probably took over from there, unless Aaron and Derek took them?"

Emily shrugged. "I don't actually know either...I just know they were well cared for and as far as I'm concerned, that's good enough for me. I was in too much shock to be too worried about it once I knew they were alright."

The other three women nodded agreement and all eyes turned back to Carrie, who was clearly still uncomfortable with the conversation, but resigned to the fact that it would all be coming out now.

"Mirkal was watching as Dave and Teresa left with the boys this morning and as soon as you were all out of sight, he slipped into my room."

"From the blush and the smile on your face, what happened next was amazing right?" Emily guessed gently, remembering her suspicions that Carrie may have been raped by her abusive ex-husband.

Carrie nodded. "He never pushed me further than I was willing to go, but it was all so comfortable and so _comforting_ being with him that it just happened naturally. Then of course, once I realised that I was alright with being with him, we ah, we went again. And then again."

The girls cheered softly and embraced her around the baby in her arms. Her smile was shy, but pleased as she ducked her head.

"So how was it with someone who actually _really_ likes you for you?" Jordan asked.

Carrie looked up but didn't answer as a look of horror dawned on her face and she recoiled, taking a slight step back as she shifted at an angle to protect the child in her arms. The other three looked in the same direction and froze.

"If you don't make a sound, I don't shoot the baby. And don't think for a second that I won't if you press me. I'm not my brother, falling in love with a warrior woman, but I do love him and for him I would do _anything_."

Emily stayed perfectly still as the barrel of the gun rested just above India's head. At that range, if he pulled the trigger, there would be nothing left to salvage of her precious baby girl and her mother's heart whimpered and recoiled at the knowledge that there was nothing she could do at that moment to protect her child.

He was clearly competent with the gun in both the left and right hands; this was the guy who had been with the kidnapper from the beginning, the older brother who had clearly done this successfully many times before. A cast encased his right wrist from where Jordan had broken it in their escape and the gun was held steadily in his left.

She found she couldn't take her eyes off of her daughter, who had just woken up and was looking up at her calmly, as if to say, 'I trust you mummy'. She really wished she'd stayed asleep as her tiny head shifted and the guy with the gun twitched slightly at the sudden movement. She hated her whimper, but she couldn't help it as she started praying with all her might for another rescue of some kind.

"My little brother only specified you," he said pointing with his casted wrist at Emily, "but I doubt he'll be too upset if I bring back all four of you. You have three options; the first entails you refusing to leave the babies behind and me killing them as soon as we are out of range of anyone hearing my gun go off. The second gives you a minute to put the little ones down and come with me quietly. The third, and the one I like the least, has you screaming for help and me killing all of you _and_ the babies, before anyone can come to your rescue. Choose now."

"If we leave them behind, they could die anyway out here in the cold," Teresa pointed out quietly, and causing him to shift the gun closer to India's head. Emily looked up and shook her head just slightly, as India protested the tears that dropped onto her face with a small cry. Emily tucked her in closer and she settled.

But in her looking up, she noticed that Jordan looked calm and realised that somehow, the other woman already had a plan to get them out of this in one piece.

"Chances are good they'll start crying pretty quickly once the cold seeps through the blankets," she said softly. "Once they start crying, they'll be picked up pretty quickly."

Everything in Emily rebelled leaving her child on the ground in the snow, and she could see a similar look briefly in Jordan's eyes as the other woman looked back at her steadily, but she could also see determination there; she just had to trust the plan she didn't know the details of.

Swallowing hard, she nodded. "I'll choose option two."

Carrie looked like she'd be sick, but she nodded agreement. "Option two."

"I'm not going to be the reason three babies die tonight," Teresa said softly.

Jordan added, "You know my answer."

"Very good ladies. You can put them down close together so they will stay warmer longer, but do it quickly. We need to go now. And if anyone tries anything..."

Jordan rolled her eyes and muttered, "We know you'll shoot us; stop with the threats already."

"For a woman with a gun pointed at a child's head and her actions determining if that child and perhaps even the rest of you die tonight, you have a distinct lack of fear."

Jordan smiled grimly. "I've already been shot in my lifetime, by a man who had already tortured a woman and then went on to torture a child. How bad can you be?"

She ignored him as she pulled Ben closer in her arms and tenderly kissed his forehead before she crouched down and placed him carefully on the ground on the edge of the patch of shadow. Emily followed slowly with India, and then took Chloe to repeat the gesture. All three babies were tucked in close to each other and covered as much as they could manage.

As she stood up reluctantly, he grabbed her arm and pulled her in closer, putting the gun to her side and angling it up just slightly towards her heart.

"As long as you cooperate, you'll make it out of here just fine. Move in close and walk. We're going to that van over there."

Jordan moved closer immediately, Teresa and Carrie following more reluctantly. They obviously hadn't seen the same message in Jordan's eyes that she had but they also wouldn't cause trouble despite their fear of the unknown.

He yanked her round and forward and the others fell into step with them. They left the covered area and walked out into the light covering the parking lot. They could see the van parked in a rare area of shadow at the other end of the lot near the far exit.

Ten meters later, a resigned voice called out, "Where are you going now Bella?"

Teresa flinched slightly but kept moving as if she hadn't heard. Or at least she would have if Jordan hadn't brought the three of them to a sudden halt.

"If she doesn't answer, he'll come after us."

"And if you do answer I'm going to kill this woman. Keep moving," he ordered from between gritted teeth as he continued to drag Emily with him.

"Jordan, where's Ben? _Jordan!_"

Derek's voice cut through the quiet of the night and the sound of doors opening behind them indicated they'd garnered attention. And as if that wasn't enough, Ben started to cry behind them at the sound of the anger in his fathers' voice and once again set the girls off.

Emily felt everything in her body go perfectly still as the man turned them slightly to keep the other three women in view. Jordan hadn't started moving again, keeping the other two women with her. She knew somehow that the plan was to divide his attention and as she looked at the three men moving rapidly down the stairs now at the realisation that something was very wrong and at the rest of her family trying to figure out what was happening, she knew they were very close to doing that. His hand tightened on her and she yelped slightly at the suddenness of it as Alex appeared in her line of vision, the rest of his team behind him, some with papers in their hands having obviously come from going through their statements.

"If you don't keep moving..." he started in a fierce whisper. Emily felt the gun at her side ease just slightly away and she dropped all her weight immediately into her captors hand; her captor's _broken_ wrist taking all her weight.

As he screamed in pain, she threw her body backwards and away, rolling out as she kicked with her legs in an attempt to avoid recapture. She turned as she gained her feet, falling in step just slightly behind Jordan as they bolted for their children, still lying far too close for either of their liking.

Several people flashed past them as the sound of a gunshot rang loud in the still night air and all time slowed down completely as everyone dove to the ground.

**End-**

**A/N: And we're there...hope it was worth the wait. If it was, let me know what you think.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Just putting it out there...I LOVE CLIFFHANGARS! At least I do when I'm writing them and know what is coming next. Not so keen on reading them if I have to wait to find out. Hmm, I guess I'm beginning to see where everyone is coming from but I doubt that I can change my nature at this late stage. However, as you can see, I have done my best to get this back to you quickly so that you wouldn't have to wait too long to find out what happened to that bullet. Unfortunately the end has been written and you're almost back to square one...but you all still love me, right?**

**I must be an evil author to be so happy to see so many reviews where I am being scolded for leaving things where they have been left and being delighted to read what you all have to say. But I truly do appreciate all of you who faithfully leave reviews every time I post something new, so this is all for you.**

**Big, big thanks to miaa29, HGRHfan35, Hazmatt, Wtiger5 and greengirl82 for encouraging me to get my typing butt into gear.**

**Additional thanks to the gorgeous Wtiger5 for all your helpful information...you'll start to see it play out in the next chapters and I really hope I can do you justice. Love you sweetie.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 20

She was back to shaking like a leaf in a hurricane again. It seemed to be the story of her life at the moment and she was well and truly sick of it.

Emily huddled on the bed in her room, feeding India while Jordan pressed up beside her feeding Ben. Neither could figure out who was shaking more and it didn't even really seem to matter that much as they took comfort from the fact that their children were alright. Teresa sat on her other side, feeding Chloe for her. Aaron, Derek and Dave watched over them as they talked quietly with Alex and Phil over near the door.

About the only good thing to come out of the last hour, was that Mirkal and Carrie were well and truly out of the closet. Despite being a technical analyst and absolutely atrocious with a gun in his hands, the man hadn't hesitated to rush into the line of danger to put his body between Carrie and the gun that was being waved around. He also hadn't hesitated to kiss her senseless once the immediate danger was over; right in front of everyone.

Now they were all in the same suite because they didn't trust the bad guys not to try something a third time.

Jack whimpered in his sleep at the foot of the bed, bringing Aaron out of his little meeting to comfort his son. Once Jack was settled again, he returned to the men at the door. India finished her bottle and burped when urged but then she started to cry and wouldn't settle, causing Emily to burst into tears herself. This set off the other babies and the women holding them and suddenly everything was just too much.

It took almost an hour to settle everyone down, probably because the men trying to do the settling were just as unsettled as the women and children. But finally everyone was settled in to bed and all was quiet as they rested.

New Section

"You didn't do it right. You need to have a subtle touch with them; they're like flowers you could crush. And I certainly didn't want you shooting the babies."

"You know I wouldn't have actually shot them. It was just a ruse to get them to come quietly. I should have known it would've been quicker just to take them altogether. But that's besides the point; we really need to leave before they track us down."

"No! Just give me one more day. I have a last plan I want to try and then if that doesn't work we can forget about them and go elsewhere. _Please_ Malik, just one more day is all I need."

Malik studied his little brother for a long moment before nodding reluctantly. "But it needs to be _quick_ and _silent_, with absolutely _no_ chances of being caught."

Najeeb beamed at his brother, despite the bandaging around his nose and the pain the manoeuvre caused. "Thanks Malik. I promise that this plan is better than any other and then we can go home. I won't need any more wives once I have my chosen few.

New Section

"I have a _really_ bad feeling about this," Mirkal muttered as he walked slowly towards the suite where the girls were to spend the afternoon while the men worked together to come up with some answers they could do something with.

Carrie nudged him gently. "Don't fret so much; I'm sure we'll be fine. We'll be locking the door behind you and we won't be opening it for _any_ reason. Aaron has already taken the master key so no one else can access the room and he isn't intending to give that key out to anyone. And aside from all of that, Emily, JJ and Jordan will be armed and they won't be hesitating to shoot if presented with trouble. We've also decided on a lot of check-in calls at odd times and if we miss even _one_ of those calls, the guys are going to come running with guns drawn, even if we then realise we missed a time and call after; just in case it's _them_ forcing us to make the call in order not to be found trying to take us again. We're really very well covered. We're just going to sit around and gossip, most likely completely at my expense, and we'll drink the sweet tea special they sent over from the local cafe that is supposedly famous in these parts."

He sighed. "I suppose you _will_ be fine with all those checks in place. I think I'm just so worried because these guys haven't given up yet and one of them is on the loose and somewhere nearby. I only just found you again and I'm not intending to lose you but it doesn't much do me any good considering they're prepared to use guns and knives and I don't know anything about defending anyone."

She turned fully into him, ignoring the two men following them for extra protection and the fact that Dave stood in the doorway they were approaching and had been watching them and their surroundings for the last minute.

"You could always come and learn self-defence with me. Aaron insisted it was a necessity and I've continued it even knowing I'm safe from my ex. It's probably why I coped as well as I did; I feel stronger now than I have since Vincent entered my life."

He nodded agreement as he cupped her face gently. "That sounds like a good idea and a perfect way to bond with you more fully." A throat cleared behind him and he nodded again. "They're right; we should get you inside where it's safer."

But he didn't release her until he'd kissed her thoroughly and she was all but plastered to his front because she had no strength left to hold herself upright.

"Hmm, you could always come rescue me from the gossip," she said as she leaned all her weight on him. She loved the knowledge she'd gained the morning before that he was more than strong enough for her every need.

He shuddered slightly even as he grinned. "Much as I'm falling for you, you're on your own there."

She pouted slightly as she pushed back to an upright position. "Fine; just don't think I won't remember you left me unprotected with them the next time you want something."

He laughed. "I'm sure you'll live."

She tossed her head and stalked off into the room.

"Playing with fire a bit don't you think?" Sampson asked curiously.

Mirkal nodded and sighed happily. "Totally...and I'm loving every minute of it."

New Section

Emily watched the door close behind the men, feeling agitated beyond belief. She didn't like being left behind, despite the gun resting in it's holster on her hip. After biting her lip for a minute, she gave in to her fears and started moving the table beside the door to rest in front of it, ensuring the handle wouldn't turn fully. She hadn't pulled the heavy wood structure more than half a foot when Jordan arrived to help her get it into position.

"Great minds think alike," Penelope said from where she was already resting happily on one of the couches. Toby and Jack were curled up on either side of her, a hand each on her belly and a look of total fascination on their faces as they felt her baby move.

They all agreed as Jordan tugged Emily gently over to one of the other couches and sat her down. When she would have jumped straight back up, Jordan held her down firmly.

"Talk to us Em; what's going on?"

She shook her head. "I can't put it into words...something just feels wrong and I seriously don't think I'll be at ease with everything until these guys are caught. Don't mind me; all I really want at the moment is to have such hot and heavy sex that the only thing I can actually manage to do is sleep." She grimaced slightly as she realised what she'd said with two impressionable young boys in the room, but neither was paying them any attention so with a slight shrug she finished with, "Barring that, I'm barely holding it together but I'll make it out the other side. I'm not intending to let these guys destroy me."

Penelope nodded. "So that leads right into my first question; what _exactly_ did I miss last night?"

Jordan explained what had happened as she hugged Emily and stroked her hair. For her part, Emily found herself beginning to relax into the experience knowing that she was surrounded by some of her closest friends and that her man was just a phone call away.

"So anyway, Emily managed to get out of his arms and as soon as she was free, we both kind of ran for the children. I missed what happened after that beyond the fact that someone shot at someone?"

JJ nodded. "I was peering around Will's shoulder when Em got free and you all ran away from the guy. He was bringing the gun up in the general direction the girls were running in when Hotch and Derek went streaking past them towards him, guns drawn. I think Dave was the one who fired the gun once Teresa and Carrie were behind him, though I don't think he hit the guy because he took off running immediately and didn't look wounded. Anyway, they gave chase and somehow he got to his van and they rescued him before we could get him. The van itself had no plates that we could trace."

"So in other words we still have nothing to go on?" Teresa asked in a soft, shaky voice.

JJ moved closer to her on one side and Carrie hugged her from the other side. "We know these guys are stupid and that is something we weren't completely sure of before."

Both Emily and Teresa laughed at that and some terrible, unknown tension eased out of the room.

"So who's having this famous tea?"

New Section

"Damn, the door's stuck. They must've jammed it closed."

"You said this was going to be _quick_ Najeeb. If the doors' stuck, this is going to be anything _but_ quick."

"It would have been quick if they hadn't done something to the door. They are very smart; they'll protect my future children well."

Malik sighed softly, rolled his eyes at his brothers' folly and pulling out a screw driver, went to work on the hinges of the door. "Keep an eye out for anyone arriving or coming up the stairs. If we're spotted at _any_ moment, we abandon this plan and you go home and accept that you'll only have one wife this rotation. They already know what our faces look like; they don't need to be catching us as well."

Najeeb nodded, but didn't answer as he smiled in anticipation of being with _her_ again.

_Soon my love, you will belong to me and you won't ever want another again._

New Section

Aaron exited the car even before he'd fully parked the vehicle. He'd almost missed his alarm informing him Emily was due to phone him the first time. But he hadn't missed the fact that she hadn't called and neither had any of the other ladies. They'd all been trying to get through but had been unsuccessful, fuelling a full-fledged panic attack the went like wildfire through the entire group.

He knew his wife was struggling with everything that had occurred over the last while and that she was far more fragile than anyone could imagine. Then adding her health into the equation and he could barely breathe through the terror roaring through his veins. And thinking about the children they'd left with their ladies wasn't helping anyone in the slightest.

He was aware that they were all right behind him as he bolted towards the door he could clearly see was off its hinges and to the side of the opening. In that moment, he didn't care that he could get shot the second he went through the door; all he could see was the nightmares his unknowing brain was feeding to his consciousness.

He cleared the entrance fast, gun extended and his brain working a mile a minute to process everything he was seeing even as he prayed they weren't too late.

New Section

"That was too close Najeeb. You need to be happy with what we've got now. No more looking even for the rest of your allotted month; this is it. As it is, dad'll skin us alive for all the trouble we've gotten into."

"Only if you promise not to hurt them," Najeeb said, focusing on the first and ignoring the last. "I know you're mad at them for getting away from us, but you need to leave it to the priests to perform the Rites properly. You have to promise me that you'll leave them alone."

Malik sighed. "I can't just leave it alone, but I do promise not to kill them. I might bruise them up a bit, but I promise not to leave any permanent marks."

Najeeb sighed and turned away from his brother to look at the beautiful women sleeping in the back of the van.

"I suppose that will just have to be good enough."

**End-**

**A/N: Now we're really getting into it...did you like learning more about the unsubs? You'll be _really_ well educated about them shortly, I promise.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker.**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Okay, I really need to focus because I keep getting distracted by my other pieces and I think I've been stringing you all along for long enough (4 months is well and truly long enough). Hopefully now that I've resolved this fact, I can actually follow through on getting out to you quickly the last few chapters. For those of you reading my Life's Wishes series, there may not actually be another update until I am done with this one. Not now that we are entering the home straight.**

**I absolutely love and adore reviews. And now that I've realised just how long I've been leaving you with almost constant cliff-hangers (tries to slink away and into hiding), I realise how much more I need to appreciate all of you who are reading this story, even those of you not posting reviews. I do love you all, but if you want your name to appear here, you need to leave me a review. So for those of you who have been doing just that faithfully right from the start of the piece (particularly since you haven't killed me yet), I would love to give you a HUGE sing-out; greengirl82, miaa29, Hazmatt, HGRHfan35, HPforever-after (for chapters 19 & 20), x-MJ-x for The Best Laid Plans and Wtiger5.**

**Additional thanks to the gorgeous Wtiger5 for all your helpful information...you'll start to see it play out in the next chapters and I really hope I can do you justice. Love you sweetie and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!**

**Please be aware this chapter is a lot more confronting than normal. I'll understand if you need to throw something at me by the end of it but please consider leaving me in one piece. And now that I've said that, I am going to take a permanent vacation somewhere top secret for additional safety purposes.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 21

She'd woken to being slapped hard enough to draw blood...though maybe they'd been slapping her for a while to bring her back to consciousness. Though as she'd moaned and rolled over onto her side with the intention of being violently ill, she'd wondered if maybe they were just that powerful as the first kick landed viciously against the side of her body.

New Section

Aaron moved rapidly through the open door into the light, his eyes tracking the room from left to right as his gun swept the room. He could see immediately that the unsub's were out of sight, but that didn't mean they weren't hiding further into the suite. He carefully picked his way across the room, his gaze flicking quickly from the hall he was approaching and the floor of the living area he was walking through.

Within a minute, he knew that everyone in the suite was a friend, that the unsub's were well and truly gone. He also knew that they were missing four of their women.

He rushed back into the living room as he holstered his gun. He dropped to his knees beside Jack and lifted his son's unconscious body into his lap. He could hear the sounds of sirens and the opening and closing of doors signalling the arrival of the paramedics. Wishing they would hurry, he looked around the area as he checked Jack's neck for a pulse.

Tea cups were scattered across the room, some still with liquid in the tilted vessels. A couple had shattered against the coffee table as they fell. It was clear to him that their unknown unsub's had drugged the tea that had been specially purchased to calm the ladies from the cafe across the street. How his son and Toby had come to be unconscious as well was unclear, though they'd probably begged sips of the liquid from their mothers and that in itself concerned him; just how powerful was the drug that had been used?

Across the room, Will was trying to calm Henry's hysterics and wasn't having much luck because he himself was nearly hysterical. He knelt at JJ's side and was attempting to continue what his small son had been anxiously trying to do when they'd rushed through the door; that is, waking his wife. Henry had clearly been asleep when his mother was drugged; dressed in his pj's, it was probable that he'd woken up and come out to find her when he saw that everyone was lying where they'd fallen.

He looked at the women lying where they'd fallen and wondered if anything would ever return to normal again as the paramedics rushed in with their equipment to take control of the scene.

New Section

Dave watched Alex stride down the hall towards him and shifted to put himself squarely in the younger man's path. To his credit, Alex stopped immediately and frowned at him, but didn't try to walk around him.

"You have something to say?"

"I do. I don't care what your beef with Emily is; we've all forgiven her and that is what counts. But because I don't want one of my best friends getting into more trouble than I can get him out of, be very, _very_ careful about what you say to Hotch."

"I'm not afraid of him."

Dave smiled mirthlessly. "You should be; right now you should be nothing _but_ afraid of him. But it's your call. I'm just trying to keep everyone focused on getting the girls back because that will only happen if we work together as _one_ team; not two because one of them snapped and beat up on the other. So please just remember what I said when you talk to him."

Dave stepped back to where he was leaning against the wall. Alex watched him with a look even his years as a profiler couldn't decipher before he strode off down the hall and turned the corner. He sighed heavily and consoled himself with the knowledge that there wasn't anything more that he could do short of following the man and muzzling him if he said the wrong thing. And since he wasn't moving from this spot, that meant he _had_ done all that he could do.

"Agent Rossi? You can come into the room now."

New Section

"Do you think they'll ever leave us alone?"

Reid sighed heavily as he looked at his wife. She was curled up on the bed facing him, despite the nurse's admonishment to stay on her back for the sake of the stitches in her abdomen. One hand was tucked up under her cheek on the pillow and her hair was shiny and still just a little damp from where her nurse had washed it a few hours ago. They had just been finishing that up when Dave arrived to give him the news that their unsubs had struck yet again; but this time with a little more success.

"I don't think they will. Any normal man attempting to kidnap a woman will back off immediately if confronted with circumstances such as the ones these guys have faced. Clearly these guys verge on the edge of being mentally unstable and have become obsessed. And now that makes them extremely dangerous, if not deadly."

"So we need to find them fast then," she stated softly.

He nodded wearily. "We need to find them as fast as humanly possible. Otherwise we may only be able to retrieve their bodies and I really don't want to think about what that will do to our family."

New Section

Doing her best to keep her arms around her head to protect it from the punishing blows and kicks she was receiving all over her body, all she could do was pray that she survived this enough to get back to her family and lead them back here so that a butt-kicking of _massive_ proportions could occur.

New Section

"Brad? What _aren't_ you telling me?"

_Why couldn't I have been blessed with a wife who's profiling skills weren't quite so sharp?_

"_Brad?"_

He sighed and turned from the window.

"They came back this afternoon while all the men were at headquarters going over what they had for clues."

Kelly closed her eyes, feeling sick all of a sudden. "They were fully successful this time, weren't they?"

He nodded silently as he watched her work to control her emotions. She hadn't been with the team all that long, but he knew she was keen to see if there might be a permanent place for her when all the maternity leave she was covering was over because she'd never been so happy as she was _where_ she was right now. "Who did they get?"

New Section

Marnie stood in the cool night air and swallowed hard as she looked around. She couldn't see anyone, though that didn't necessarily mean anything and she knew that if she was caught _here_ of all places that everything she wanted to accomplish could quite possibly be destroyed. Though if she was caught here, she would say that she'd heard that one of her counterparts was pregnant and she was simply extending courtesy to a woman who was to become her sister.

_Although not getting caught in the first place would DEFINITELY be preferable._

She looked around again then went perfectly still as she closed her eyes. Her idea was to tune into the night noises surrounding her in order to figure out how close someone else might be. As she continued to stand perfectly still, the noises of the night started again, having determined that she wasn't a threat to them. And as the noises continued without ceasing, she determined that she was alone but for the woman in the room behind her crying quietly.

_Now my only concern is whether she is in there alone. If she's not, than it's all over red rover._

Easing the handle down on the door, she pushed it open just enough to slip into the room before easing it back to where it would look closed in the dark outside. She didn't want to close it all the way, because she clearly remembered that she had been locked into this room without a key when she first arrived and before they beat her nearly to death.

The crying woman was curled up on the single mattress on the floor, her face buried in her arms. Marnie waited, knowing that the slightest noise could potentially bring someone running to catch her. She didn't know how long she'd have to wait before the woman looked up, but she needed more than anything else to chance it; she couldn't just leave her behind. There was also the possibility that one of her friends might be the key they needed to actually getting away unharmed.

She tried counting the minutes, but the woman's sobs were breaking her heart and kept distracting her from her counting. But slowly they eased until all she heard were sniffles and then they eased to silence marred only by some heavy breathing and suddenly she had a new concern to think about.

_Please don't fall asleep. Not now._

She couldn't leave the door; if she let go, it would swing shut all the way and then she'd be in real trouble. But neither could she call to the woman. Was there anything else she could safely do to get her attention?

Nothing was coming to mind when suddenly she jerked, whimpered and pushed up to a sitting position. She was looking blearily around when her gaze landed on Marnie standing near to sliver of moonlight sliding into the room around the slightly open door. She froze and opened her mouth.

Panic surging through her veins, Marnie lifted a finger and exaggerated putting it to her lips in a call for silence. She mimicked talking with her hand and then closed her fist before beckoning the woman to come to her, praying all the while that she was smart enough to fully understand what she was trying to convey.

Clearly the other woman was smart because she made not a sound as she got to her bare feet and eased forward. When she was close enough, Marnie moved as close as she could and breathed with barely any noise in her ear, "The slightest noise could get their attention. Don't move until I signal you; I want out of here more than anything and after what I've been through, I won't hesitate to leave you behind if you might hinder my plans. Do you understand?"

_Too harsh Marnie; you didn't need to add that last._

Yet, even as she was thinking that, the woman was nodding agreement.

Nodding as well to seal the plan, she held up her hand and slipped carefully out the door. It would all fall apart now if they were caught before they'd even left this courtyard. Caution was definitely the order of the night.

But somehow they made it out of that courtyard and into the next without being caught. Moving across it in silence, she moved them down to the river and eased down to the soft patch of grass near a particularly loud pool of constantly rushing water.

"If we are really quiet here, they can't hear us and sitting down as we are they _definitely_ can't see us. My name is Marnie; what's yours?"

"I'm Penelope and I can tell you, we've been trying to find you for a while now." Marnie frowned as she shot the other woman an enquiring look. "I'm with the FBI." Marnie felt hope surge within her. If all four women were with the FBI, maybe they would be able to push through their pain enough to be helpful. Penelope started speaking again. "But I've learned a massive dose of caution the hard way in the last week, so before we discuss anything else, I need to know why you busted me out of that closet of a room."

She nodded slowly, completely understanding this woman's unspoken fear. "I want out of here, sooner rather than later, and I was hoping I could enlist your help before they got around the warping your mind and breaking your spirit. I couldn't get to two of your friends before they were taken for their Rites and the third woman wasn't in her room when I got there; I don't know why though, or where they'd taken her. But there was still you and knowing of your condition, I understand why. Did you eat or drink anything they gave you?"

Penelope shook her head. "I was thirsty when I first woke up, but I was also feeling really ill and since I didn't know what the fluid was, I didn't touch it. I also couldn't get my stomach to settle enough for the food."

She attempted a small smile. "I'm really glad to hear that. One of the other ladies I've made friends with said they use safe drugs to cause miscarriage if a chosen bride is pregnant when she comes in and before they send her for her Rite of Rebellion. The drugs work over a 12 hour period. Otherwise they just beat the child to death, but the drugs are usually preferable to ensure the woman actually survives."

The blonde woman in front of her paled as her hands went protectively to her abdomen. "The more I hear and learn about these guys, the more I hate them and for me, that's saying a lot. I'm great with information but not so much on the physical kick-butt side. But I do really want to go home to my husband and the safety of his arms, so I can give you determination. I'll do my best not to slow you down."

Marnie ducked her head, hiding the flush of shame that filled her as she thought of how much she'd wished not minutes ago that she could return this woman to her room because she'd probably be useless as pregnant as she was.

"Don't worry about it," Penelope said softly, causing her to lift her gaze to the other woman.

"Worry about what?"

"Thinking I'd be a liability. I thought that too when you first stated your plan."

She smiled shyly. "I think I've been here long enough that I am already slightly warped. I wouldn't normally be so mean to anyone."

"Like I said, don't worry about it. After their Rites, where do they take the women?"

Marnie pointed back the way they'd come. "They'd be in the rooms dedicated to Najeeb's harem. I don't know about the third woman and where she'd be taken, but the first two would definitely be there. But they'll most likely be unconscious until morning."

"So we wait until morning and then rescue all three of them."

"We can't wait until morning. They'll come for you at dawn and if you aren't there, they'll search this entire place and there isn't _anywhere_ you can hide here where they won't find you. We _have_ to go tonight. It's our only option. Otherwise, they'll kill us both and possibly your friends as well."

Penelope's lips quivered, but her eyes filled with determination as she stated firmly, "Then we'd best go and get started trying to wake them before we run out of time."

New Section

She sat on a beach that didn't exist, watching a non-existent sun set while sipping an exotic cocktail that she could swear she could taste in all it's glory; yet which would not exist outside of this windy world. She sat with her back to the real world, because the reality would come far too soon and when it did she would have to deal with it...but until it did, she didn't need to give it any attention.

Unfortunately though she couldn't quite block out the grunts and moans that surrounded her, recalling her to what was happening to her _physical_ body, nor could she control the violence of the waves pounding the beach in time to the movements of the man covering her _physical_ self. All she could do was remind herself of one _very_ important truth.

_I know who I am and I WILL remember this when all is said and done._

Outside her mind in the real world, Malik knew that he could get into a world of trouble if his brother chose to challenge him about his violation of a chosen bride, but he also knew that his actions could be justified if he was asked about them. After all, this woman had broken his brother's nose badly and had re-broken his arm despite his cast. So he was taking what was his by right and gaining vengeance on his brothers' behalf while he was at it.

And because he had refrained from killing her or even from beating her as much as the Rite of Rebellion normally allowed, this was the next best thing.

His orgasm took him by surprise and shook him down to the soles of his feet. As he withdrew from her tight heat, little shocks followed him. He got to his feet and pulled on his pants as she rolled onto her side and tucked herself into a little ball. Not once had she made a sound, but neither had he ever been so completely satisfied by any of his wives.

"Well then, perhaps I'll petition my brother to keep you. That was just delicious; the best feast I've ever had."

Sitting quietly on her non-beach, Emily Hotchner started to cry.

**End-**

**A/N: I honestly didn't intend for that to go as far as it did and I'm really sorry if anyone has been scared off by it. But I have promised my birthday girl that things will get lighter and brighter for the next LONG while and I ALWAYS keep my promises.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker.**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: I am absolutely floored that I woke to find myself still in one piece. But here I am again and we are moving right along so that I don't leave you hanging for too long in a furious anticipation to find out if our girls are going to be alright. Also, we find out what medical issues Emily has.**

**Apologies everyone; I would have had this out last night but ffn wouldn't even let me on to the login page so I've had to wait until now. Hope it was worth it.**

**I absolutely love and adore reviews. And after writing the chapter from hell and still finding a few waiting for me when I totally didn't think I'd deserved them, I appreciate them even more. Thank you for your constant support Wtiger5, miaa29 and Hazmatt. Thank you for believing in me even when the content I am writing isn't very positive. I promise some happiness is coming through for everyone shortly.**

**Thanks again to the beautiful Wtiger5 for all your wonderful medical knowledge. You've really helped me feel confident about this chapter and the next few to come. And since you asked so nicely on your birthday to be written into this story and I didn't have time to get you anything else, this chapter introduces Lydia Scott, otherwise modelled on my wonderful friend and sister, Wtiger5. Love you sweetie.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 22

The noise woke her up and for several long seconds she just lay there in fear, almost paralysed as she prayed he wasn't coming for her again. She was lucky not to be a favourite, but after just two nights with him, she seriously doubted that she'd be able to pretend for very much longer. And there was no way he would miss the movement in her stomach and not know that this child wasn't his.

_And I won't risk your death little one...not when you're my only link to Cameron._

But the door didn't open and the soft voices continued. Hesitating just slightly, curiosity won out in the end and she slipped out of the bed and across to the window. Cautiously moving the curtain just slightly out of her way, she watched as the moonlight illuminated Malik and his brother Najeeb as they had a heated discussion outside of the empty room to the left of hers.

She couldn't hear what was being said, but she could tell Najeeb was furious with his brother and this was saying a lot of the youngest of the Hastafah clan; he was by far the kindest in nature and almost sweet in his concern for the women around him. If it hadn't been for the fact that he was in on the whole thing, she would almost be willing to be friends with him.

_But that's what they want...to lull you into forgetting who you are and where you come from and all that you left behind...so that all that is left is them. Well, I WONT comply and I WONT give up hoping that I can get out of here. Not until I'm dead anyway. My name is Lydia Scott and I WILL return to my family. I just have to work on my plan some more before I try anything._

"You can't have her! I chose her and I rescued her from her life and I'm going to keep her!"

Malik tried to calm Najeeb as lights came on all around the courtyard. Knowing her room was right near where they stood and it would be extremely suspicious if she didn't respond to that shouted declaration, she rushed to get her light on and open up her door. But her fear stopped her there and she did little more than peer cautiously out while some of the other women stepped fully out of their open doors and stared openly.

Najeeb clearly would not be calmed and she found herself flinching slightly as he lifted a hand and slapped his brother hard across the cheek.

_Oh my god...he just challenged his so-experienced older brother. Wait; maybe if they kill each other I'll have a better chance of surviving this._

"She is _mine_, _my_ bride and I _will not_ give her up. You had no right to violate her, but I will forgive her and place all the blame on you. You promised you would do no more than soften her up for the Rite of Rebellion to work properly on her but you abused that promise and my trust. You are my older brother and far more experienced in these things to me, but in this I will not back down or let it slide. Let it be the challenge between us at dawn."

Malik sighed tiredly. "Najeeb, this is not necessary. I made my request in error and clearly I did not think it through properly. The challenge is not necessary because I return her to you freely, with my deepest apologies for my abuse of your trust in me."

But Najeeb was not consoled and had clearly been pushed too far. "No, not this time Malik. I love you, but my challenge still stands because I love her more. Dawn tomorrow morning in the meeting square; let the elders decide this between us."

Najeeb stalked off, leaving Malik standing there looking stunned. His gaze swept around the courtyard, seeing her first as his cheeks flushed and a furious look appeared on his face. She quickly closed her door and pressed up against it, praying for all she was worth that he wouldn't follow up on the violence she'd seen on his face as he looked at her.

Her shaking grew into frightened sobbing as his voice roared, "_All_ of you get _back_ in your rooms and _stay_ there!"

She waited, fully expecting him to come for her, but as the sound of doors rapidly being slammed shut faded and he hadn't, she forced her trembling limbs to walk her back to the window. Peering out, she saw him stalking off in the direction his brother had so recently taken and she sank down to the ground. Pressing up against the wall, she wrapped her arms around her and sobbed as her fear ebbed away and a thought formed.

_If he was just softening that woman up and she is actually conscious, perhaps we could work together to get out of here. But I'd have to leave this room and if they find us we'll be dead...but if they don't and the challenge goes ahead in the morning, she may very well be dead anyway. And Malik will remember that I was closest to him when he was shamed by his brother and for sure, he'll come for me. So if I'm going to try this, it might as well be tonight and I might as well see if she wants to come along with me._

New Section

Marnie froze as shouting was followed by the sound of a heap of doors slamming shut in quick succession. Penelope crouched down low behind her and did her best to stay as still as possible despite her fearful shaking. Thankfully they were in between courtyards and partially obscured by a trellis covered in climbing vines; this and the fact that the man was absolutely furious as he stalked in from the far right of the courtyard was all that saved them. He looked around, muttered something neither of them could hear and walked out the exit diagonally opposite the one he'd walked in.

Once he was out of sight, Marnie turned and whispered in Penelope's ear, "We need to hurry. If they decide to do a spot check, we're done for."

She nodded as she rose and though they were silent, they moved quickly along the wall and into the first room on their right.

Penelope slipped her hand over her mouth to stifle her noise, but Marnie shook her head. "You can talk here; they don't have the individual rooms bugged out of consideration for the couples being _together_ at night, but keep the noise down. The walls aren't particularly thick."

Penelope rushed over to Jordan's side and sat on the edge of the bed. The other woman had clearly been cleaned up, but even through her dark skin the bruises and marks were clearly apparent on the skin exposed by the silky negligee. She hovered her hands, not knowing where to touch, when Jordan moaned softly and shifted. Reaching out, she gently cupped the other woman's cheek as her eyes fluttered open.

"Hey you. You aren't looking so good."

Jordan moaned again and pushed her body upright as her eyes slowly focused on the blonde in front of her. "I don't feel so good either. Breathing hurts enough to tell me I've probably got a fractured rib or two and my insides feel like they've been reduced to a thick soup so I probably have some internal bleeding as well. I really hope I don't throw up because I've a feeling that will hurt like hell."

"It did when I threw up," Marnie muttered from near the door.

Penelope shifted so Jordan could see the other woman. "Jordan, this is Marnie. She broke me out of my locked room and is looking for help in escaping."

Jordan nodded as she stared intently at Marnie. "If your plan is to betray us..."

"I swear it isn't. I just want to go home. But I couldn't do it by myself because I don't know enough about the woods. I'm hoping one of the four of you will know enough to help us avoid anything that might kill us until we get out of here. That and the fact that I didn't want to just leave you behind. Particularly with Penelope being pregnant; I've been told what happens and I don't want that for her."

Jordan continued to stare in silence for another minute before nodding again. "Fine, help me up. I may not be able to move fast at first because everything feels stiff and sore, but I'm a big believer in pushing through my pain and once I've warmed up some, the stiffness should ease."

Marnie snorted softly. "Here you are warm and dry. Out there it is cold and it feels like it could snow. But if we wait until morning, Penelope's baby will be dead and there is the possibility that if anything goes wrong with their methods that she might well join her unborn child. We need to get your friend Carrie, look around for Emily and then go."

Jordan froze in the act of standing. "You know where Carrie is, but you don't know where they're holding Emily?"

"I knew where she was supposed to be while she waited for her Rite, but she wasn't there when I arrived and there is every chance that someone has her for the night. If that is the case, we won't be able to find her and we may just need to leave her behind."

Both Jordan and Penelope made soft noises; Jordan's dismissive and Penelope's distressed. "Either we _all_ go, or we stay and try later. Where we come from, we don't leave family behind and though we aren't a conventional family, that means nothing here."

They glared at Marnie til she lifted her hands in surrender. "Fine. Then we'd best get moving before we get found out."

New Section

Lydia Scott slipped out of her room and wondered at her folly as she crept silently along the wall and into the room next to hers. The heating had obviously only just been turned on, but it was working quickly to warm the room up.

The other woman was clearly awake; sitting on the bed in the corner with her back to the wall, she was trembling with her arms wrapped around her drawn up knees. But she stared back at Lydia steadily and the impression she got immediately told her this woman was dangerous.

_But hopefully not to me once she knows why I'm here._

"Hello," she said softly. When the only reaction was a steady stare, she continued nervously. "My name is Lydia Scott and I'm leaving this place tonight in one piece. Whether I make it out the other side alive I don't know, but I have to try because otherwise tomorrow I might be dead."

The silence was becoming unnerving, but with every second that passed, Lydia's resolve grew until she knew that she would either escape _with_ this woman or else without her.

_I can DO this._

She jumped when the other woman shifted, removing her arms from around her legs and carefully stretching them out.

"Lydia, why does you leaving this hellhole have anything to do with me?"

"You've just arrived and by the sounds of it you may not have been beaten as badly as the Rite of Rebellion insists on. If that is the case, perhaps we can work together and protect each other as we go. If you'd rather stay and take your chances when Najeeb and Malik fight over you in the morning, that is your choice. But Malik knows that I saw his shame when his brother challenged him and I _know_ with a deep, gut instinct, that he will be back for me sometime tomorrow and I _will_ suffer for witnessing that so closely. And I won't risk my unborn child on a slim chance that he _doesn't_ come for me and he _doesn't_ notice my pregnancy is advanced enough that the child couldn't possibly be his.

"I get that you're probably afraid and hurting right now, but I don't have much time to wait around, not with everyone being so jumpy right now. So choose to stay or choose to go but please, whatever you do, choose now."

She waited for almost a minute before sighing quietly and nodding. "Fine then; I wish you luck with your future survival in this place. If I make it out, I'll definitely send everyone I can get to listen to me back to rescue you."

She turned back to the door and was just turning the handle when that soft voice came from behind her.

"My name is Emily and I'm with the FBI. If you betray me, you _will_ regret it."

She turned back and shot the other woman a grin. "Honey, if I betray you, we'll both end up dead anyway. It's how these guys work and I've been here long enough to have seen if first hand."

She nodded and slipped carefully off the bed, wincing slightly as she placed her hand low on her abdomen. Recognising the gesture and knowing it could be one of two things, she asked carefully, "Pregnant and in pain or a session with Malik doing his vigorous best and in pain?"

Emily looked at her in surprise, then smiled faintly. "A bit of both."

She winced slightly. "If it helps at all, the fact that you're upright tells me that Malik held back when he beat you, because most women don't rise from their beds for at least a few days after he gets through with them. As to the other, unfortunately he doesn't know how to be gentle. My older counterparts tell me they got to the point over time where for them, they need for him to be vigorous with them in order to feel anything at all because he's destroyed them for anything gentle."

"What about you?"

She shrugged and moved to the window to check if the courtyard was deserted. "Malik has only had me twice; once at the wedding festival and once since. I apparently don't thrill him and I'm not arguing because it kept him well away from me and my unborn child." She changed the subject quickly. "We need to go now while all is quiet. You never know when someone will be out and about."

Emily nodded and looked around. "You won't find warmer clothing in here. This room is supposed to be vacant. And I'd lend you some of mine, but I think we'll have to leave the clothing behind anyway."

"What do you mean? It's freezing outside."

"I had a seam rip on one of my jackets about a month ago and I found a microchip inside the gap. My guess is that just about everything except the underwear is bugged and they use it to keep track of where we are. I tried going over the seams of my clothing to see if I could figure out where all of the bugs were, but I only found one on another of my jackets and I don't want to risk them finding us before we get to safety. I have no intention of ending up buried in the Rose Garden."

Emily sighed softly. "So I should leave this negligee behind?"

She shook her head. "I think the silk is too delicate and thin because I went over every millimetre of mine and didn't find one." She opened her jacket to show that she had her own negligee on underneath it. "You can borrow the other jacket that I took the chip out of. As to the rest, we'll just have to press up close together for additional warmth."

She nodded agreement and moved to stand behind her. "Do you know where my friends are?"

"When did you arrive?"

"I don't actually know. One moment we were drinking tea and the next I felt weak and dizzy. Oh god no."

Lydia reached out to the woman who suddenly looked so pale as she stood in front of her. "What is it?" she asked gently.

"I let my son try the tea. And he'd just come to me to say he wasn't feeling well all of a sudden." She whimpered softly and trembled, her fear ripping at her heart.

"Hey, listen to me. Children are so incredibly resistant. I've no doubt he's probably fine now and getting the help he needs. After all, his father would have still been there, right?"

She nodded slowly, visibly calming as she thought it through. "My phone was ringing as I passed out and I know it was my husband because I saw the display briefly. They'd tried to take us twice already, so if we didn't answer the phone, he was going to come without hesitation to the rescue. But I guess these guys were faster than ours. But you're right; Aaron would have been there and helping Jack in no time at all. I _have_ to believe he's alright."

Lydia nodded encouragingly. "That's good honey, just keep believing it until someone tells you otherwise. After all, you woke up so he definitely should have done the same by now as well."

"Yes, okay. So what's the plan?"

"I saw Najeeb and Malik when they returned with the first of Najeeb's brides. They came from a path leading into the woods. I also witnessed them leaving by the same path, obviously when they went to try to get you and your friends. I wasn't supposed to be there either time, but I'd discovered the tiny alcove across from the opening by mistake and quickly realised it was a safe place to go if I needed to hide by myself for a while without someone coming to find out if I needed anything or if I was alright. But regardless, I now know that it leads to the outside world so that is where I am heading to start off with. I'll take nothing with me that might get me caught and pray for the best."

She smiled sadly and winced slightly as her hand went back to her abdomen. "Sometimes that's all you can do. You lead, I follow and hopefully together we'll make this work."

New Section

Jordan swore softly and paced as Marnie stood near the door wringing her hands.

"I promise I looked everywhere it was safe to do so, but I had to be careful because Malik is walking around trying to find Najeeb. Pretty soon, he'll enlist help to do so and we'll lose our window of opportunity. I know you wanted to find your friend before we left, but I don't think we'll have the time to now, and we can't just wait around here to be caught. It'll be death for all of us. We need to leave _now._"

"Emily wouldn't want us to stay here if we have a chance to get away. She'd want us to get out of here to safety and to send the cavalry in behind us."

They looked at Carrie, who was swaying even as she sat on the edge of her bed. Despite how badly she'd been beaten though, she seemed to have the most determination of all of these women and Marnie had a sneaking suspicion that this woman had been in a similar position before...and didn't intend to stay stuck in this one any longer than necessary. But first they had to convince the others.

"I don't know that I like the idea of leaving superwoman behind. I mean, she's perfectly capable of looking after herself, but Aaron would kill us if we escaped and she was still back here. Particularly if something happens to her after we leave. I'd hate to have to live with myself _and_ him if that happens."

Jordan _and_ Carrie were nodding in agreement, but Carrie still said with quiet determination, "I still think we should take this chance and run with it and I still think that this is what Emily would want us to do."

Everyone fell silent and after several seconds Jordan sighed and nodded. "I hate to say it after advocating family so strongly, but I agree; Emily would want us all to take this opportunity while it was available. She wouldn't be too happy later if she found we sacrificed ourselves and our safety for her." Penelope opened her mouth with the clear intention of arguing, but Jordan continued quickly. "I _know_ it isn't going to feel good leaving her behind Pen. However, the sooner we go, the sooner we can return with help for her."

Penelope sighed as her shoulders slumped and she nodded dejectedly. Jordan hugged her as tight as she could despite her pain and they both looked at Carrie as she asked quietly, "So what's the plan?"

Marnie felt relief run through her. "Okay, so I remember waking up as I was being brought out of the path and into the first of the courtyards. I retraced my steps the other day with just this intention of escaping in mind and I figured out where the path is. So I'll lead us there and we'll hopefully take it to safety. We'll need to move pretty quickly in case they discover that we aren't in our rooms and it'll be bitterly cold out, but I'm almost completely certain that we can do this successfully."

"We don't have anything warmer than what we're wearing. You and Penelope are going to be the warmest of all of us."

"I can lend you some warmer clothing, and Penelope and I can walk on either side of you to both support you and to give you added warmth."

They agreed to the plan and Marnie slipped back down to her room, grabbed some clothing and returned to them. They dressed quickly and slipped out of the room, following Marnie as she quickly but quietly led them away from the room and out towards the woods surrounding them on all sides.

**End-**

**A/N: This was getting to be a bit long, so we'll check in and see what the boys are up to next chapter, and we'll see how everyone left behind is doing. We'll also return to the girls and see if they can escape...or if they get caught in the act.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker.**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Turns out that we aren't going to be visiting with the guys for very long before we go back to the girls. Hope that's alright with everyone but I really can't leave you hanging for too long. **

**The rescue is on...though not so much rescue as escape. Well, I think you all catch my drift. And I'm really glad that you are totally behind me as I shoot for the finish line. Thanks to greengirl82 for a review of both chapter 21 and 22; the men won't be the only ones getting back at the bad guys. Thanks to miaa29 and I promise the rest of this story should be out in pretty quick succession (despite having another crazy weekend in front of me). Thanks to Hazmatt and I promise that everything will always work out in the end...it sometimes just takes a little longer at times than at others and sometimes the road is rockier than everyone would like. Thanks to HGRHfan35 for chapters 21 and 22 and of course I promise not to stop writing Hotch/Prentiss stories; also no, the girls aren't in a desert, they are still in the US. But I do appreciate all of you, and others, who do still read my work, even when I'm beating up on our favourite heroes with almost every story. Good days are coming this way soon though, so stay tuned.**

**Thanks again to the gorgeous Wtiger5 for your inspiration of Lydia Scott...I hope I'm doing her justice for you my lovely. Love you muchly and hope you're feeling better. This chapter is dedicated to you simply because you're that special.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 23

"Has any of them moved from that window since I was here last?"

Sampson sighed heavily. "Only long enough to check on the children. Mirkal was gone the longest because Toby was awake and needed comforting, but as soon as he was asleep he was back here and waiting for news. Do you have anything to report?"

"The only thing I have to report is that I don't actually have anything to report. Your team is working incredibly hard, but because JJ, Teresa and the boys were unable to remember anything beyond noises at the door when the guys were breaking in, we have as little to go on as we did the other day. They're still going through all the girls' reports of what they'd been through, so who knows? Maybe we'll have something to report in the next hour.

"How are the children actually doing?"

"Physically they'll be fine, but mentally they're all shook up. Henry in particular. One of the nurses in the paediatric ward sent a rocking chair up so that Will could sit with JJ and rock his son and though he's calmer, he keeps waking up in a fright. Children are fairly resilient, but it's still a sad thing to witness."

Dave hummed his agreement. "It's all really rather sad. I'll probably call if we come up with anything; it'll just be quicker that way than my coming back here to verbally pass the message on."

Sampson hummed his own agreement and went back to reading his book as Dave walked out of the room.

New Section

Emily shivered in the cold night air as a light snow began to fall around them. They were in the little alcove Lydia had mentioned watching to ensure they didn't run into any nasty surprises when they moved away from this little bit of shelter. It had been Emily's idea to wait and watch for a bit before they headed off and she was beginning to think it might pay off as she watched the snow just inches from the ground.

She nudged Lydia gently. "Do you see the snow near the ground?" When the other woman nodded, she continued. "Do you also see how it's melted in a thin straight line near the entrance to the path?"

For a long moment, Lydia frowned as she studied the ground. Then her eyes went huge. "What is it?"

"Probably a sensor of some kind. They probably monitor it at all times; it's most likely why none of the women have ever escaped successfully. And I can see the line traces around the edge of this place so that even if you do notice it and think to enter the path from the side, you will still get caught. But I doubt most people would notice it; in Summer it'll just be part of the heat haze in the air and I wouldn't have noticed it now if I hadn't insisted we stop first."

"Do you think we could just climb over it?"

"That's what I'm checking for now. Tuck back in tight near me; I can hear several someone's coming this way."

"Do you think they're looking for us?" she asked fearfully.

"Considering how loud Malik is, I doubt we've been found out," she whispered in return. "I'm sure when we're discovered, even my husband will hear the roar of fury. It's probably just a patrol. Hush."

They went perfectly still, perfectly silent, as the two men appeared. They weren't talking, nor were they making that much noise, but they were definitely on the lookout for anything suspicious. They looked everywhere, including along the ground for footprints, and Emily was glad that she'd thought to erase the markings of their passing as they'd slipped into this spot.

After what seemed like an eternity, the two men passed out of sight and another few minutes later, Emily ceased to hear them. But she certainly hadn't been idle while they waited and she was certain that all they needed to do was step over that sensor line across the path; the hard part was doing it without dislodging too much snow over it and tripping it off anyway.

"It's safe to move now. We'll have to be careful, but we can step over that line without tripping any alarms. We'll move slowly away from the line for a couple of metres and then we need to bolt for it just in case I've missed anything. Start moving and don't stop. We'll warm up quickly enough. How fit are you?"

She shrugged slightly as they carefully eased out into the open. "Normally very, but it's been a little while and I've had to be careful to keep my workouts silent and completely hidden. So we'll have to see."

"You're more pregnant than me so you go first and set the pace. Don't worry about going too fast for me. Despite having taken a beating, I'm still in peak physical condition and my doctor doesn't think I'm more than three or four weeks along so that won't slow me down."

"And you're sure you don't want to take a minute to find your friends?"

"And risk being spotted and killed? No; they would want me to escape and bring help. Hopefully...quick, back in the alcove; someone's coming."

They rushed back into the alcove and ducked down. Emily almost groaned as she looked out and realised that they had left a line of footprints in the snow leading directly to where they were hiding that even the snow falling wasn't going to cover fast enough. She exchanged a panicked look with Lydia and as they waited to be caught, their hands found the others' and clung.

Emily's breath whooshed out in a soft rush of relief as the small group of girls appeared, moving quietly but quickly towards the path entrance.

"They're my friends." She got up and moved forward quickly, just managing to stop the unknown woman before she would have given them all away. She immediately tried to shove her off, but Emily refused to be moved and hissed softly, "Stop it; I'm trying to keep you from bringing everyone down on us. There's a sensor across the path that you very nearly stepped on."

The other woman backed up carefully and Emily shot her a dark look as she turned to her friends. Thankfully, Penelope looked untouched to her eyes, but Jordan and Carrie were swaying against each other and had obviously been very severely beaten; their being upright was a testament to their strength. She wrapped her arms around Carrie and hugged the younger woman lightly as Lydia approached cautiously.

"We should go in case that patrol comes back this way again," she said softly.

Emily nodded agreement and looked at the other woman where she was crouched down and looking all over the entrance to the path.

"You won't see the sensor itself. But if you look closely, you can see the snow where's its melted into the ground from the heat of the beam. Walking through it you probably wouldn't notice anything but I've no doubt in my mind that someone else would register the interference and come to investigate."

Penelope hugged Emily tightly even as she continued to hold Carrie up and Jordan joined in their hug as they all reconnected.

"I'm so glad we found you. Carrie said you'd want us to escape while we could but I just wasn't happy at the thought of leaving you behind. But now you're here and your friend is right, we should go before they get hold of us again and cause us untold unhappiness."

Emily introduced Lydia and in turn, Penelope introduced Marnie. Marnie nodded carefully at Emily.

"I'm sorry for my reaction. I think it might have to do with the beating I took. I know I was never this jumpy before."

"Don't worry about it," Emily said gently. "We actually see it in abuse victims all the time."

Marnie nodded, looking relieved but still a little vulnerable. Emily wanted to give her a hug as well, but she refrained as she noted how Marnie had hunched in on herself.

Lydia spoke up softly, "You all need to lose your clothing. It's bugged."

Emily spoke up quickly, "Penelope should be able to keep hers because she was wearing that when she was taken. I'll go over it while the rest of you strip."

"Em, we'll freeze," Carrie whispered, her teeth already chattering.

Emily shook her head. "We can't risk them being able to spot us leaving as soon as we do. I'll give you my jacket because I can see you need it more and we know it is bug free."

"What about that silk?" Marnie asked thoughtfully.

"Too fragile for bugs. It won't be much protection, but it'll be better for us than running around in just our underwear and if we keep close we can make it work."

"Wait here; I won't be long," Marnie said and before they could stop her, she'd run back the way they'd come. Emily looked at Jordan, who shrugged as she started slipping out of her clothing. By the time Marnie returned, Lydia and Emily had handed their jackets over to Jordan and Carrie and they were all somehow huddled into Lydia's little hiding place.

She'd grabbed their negligees, so that they at least had something over their skin. She'd also thought to grab her spares to use as wraps. They quickly donned this clothing and then Emily got everyone's attention.

"The key is going to be stepping wide without slipping in the snow or on any hidden ice there may be. Watch how I do it, then copy me. I'll steady everyone from the other side."

She set her foot down about half a foot away from that line, lifted the one that would be going over and, setting her hand on Lydia's shoulder, carefully shook off the snow before placing it about half a foot on the other side of that line. She then repeated the gesture just as carefully with the other foot before easing a bit further back.

"Slow and steady. The last person needs to erase our footprints on the other side and I'll get the ones around this line once we're all over."

One by one they came across, until only Lydia was on the other side. Having seen how Emily had erased all traces of their footprints so naturally earlier on, she copied those movements until there was no sign of them being there a foot from the sensor. Then Emily helped her across.

"Where are your friends?"

"I told them to start moving, since they'll be a bit slower with their injuries and Penelope's advanced pregnancy; she isn't as fit as you are."

Lydia nodded agreement and steadied Emily as she leaned over and carefully erased the last marks of their presence around the line. They then worked together to hide the footprints on the track until they rounded a slight bend and then they took off running as quietly as they could.

They caught up to the others pretty quickly but despite their anxiety to get as far away from that place as rapidly as possible, they didn't rush the others; not when they considered their pain and the cold surrounding them. But neither did they allow anyone to slow down or stop for a break; the penalties if they were caught would be beyond surviving.

When Jordan passed out between one step and the next, Emily lifted her friend up over her shoulders and carried her, ignoring the renewed pains in her lower abdomen. They were either the results of forced sex that was far too vigorous for her body to handle safely or she was losing the baby she'd only just found out about. Either way, nothing mattered much beyond ensuring they made it out safely in one piece.

_Besides, I can always grieve later unless I'm dead._

No one knew how long they'd been jogging along, though she thought it had been several hours at least, before Emily heard a sound that chilled her blood. She stopped on the path and turned back the way they'd come, listening intently as everyone stopped behind her. She tuned out the heavy breathing as they took the time to get their breath back and waited. When she heard the sound again, it was even less comforting than the first time she'd heard it.

"Do they have dogs?"

Lydia shook her head. "I don't think so; or if they do, I wasn't aware of them."

"Everyone keep moving and if you can, pick up the pace."

"Let me take her for a bit," Marnie suggested softly. "I'm fairly fit and I haven't been recently beaten up. You've also been carrying her for a while. Please, let me help."

Emily nodded as she carefully transferred Jordan over. "When it gets to be too much, say something immediately; don't try to play the hero."

"Are we in trouble?"

"Most likely. If they had dogs, those noises I heard will signify that they've discovered some, if not all, of us are missing and they are tracking us with the clothing they removed from us. If they don't have dogs, what I heard was wolves and that could be just as much of an issue if those wolves are hungry. They could smell us and our wounds and think we would be easy prey."

"And wolves often hunt in family groups, if I remember correctly," Marnie said as they caught up to the rest of the group.

"Exactly."

New Section

Najeeb burst through the door, irrespective of the fact that his brother was naked while thoroughly enjoying the woman moaning underneath him.

"What the hell did you do with her?"

Malik ignored his little brother, figuring he was almost done anyway; waiting a minute wouldn't hurt since _he_ was the one intruding.

But Najeeb wasn't interested in waiting. He stalked to the bed and hauled his brother off the woman, almost throwing the slightly taller man clear across the room in his anger.

"I asked you a question Malik, and I want an answer now, not when you're done with _her._ What did you do with the bride of mine you violated tonight?"

Malik looked at Najeeb, wondering if his brother had fully snapped. But seeing past his brothers' fury, he noticed the near panic mixed with pain and replied in a much calmer voice than he had originally intended using.

"I put her in the room where you found us. And after you walked away angry, I left to find you to try to repair the damage I'd made but I couldn't find you. So I came back to find a warm body for the night and hoped that you would be calm by morning. I didn't return to her, not even to return her to the room I found her in, because I already felt guilty."

He watched Najeeb closely as his brother worked to calm his anger. "Well she isn't in the room you put her in. I went back to get her because I couldn't stand to leave her there alone after what you did to her. Only she wasn't there. I knocked on the door beside hers, remembering that your woman in that room was awake, but she didn't answer the door."

Malik frowned and stood to put his pants back on. "All the women are trained to wake at the slightest knock and answer the door quickly. That she didn't answer the door tells me she wasn't in the room and if she wasn't in the room, she is in big trouble; none of my women are allowed to spend the night in another woman's room without my express permission."

He stalked out of the room, now just as furious as Najeeb had been moments ago. He knew Lydia had seen his shame and he knew too that she had correctly interpreted the look in his eyes as they met hers; that he would be seeing her tomorrow. He would teach her to watch on as he was brought low by a man younger than him, particularly one who was family. If she was off somewhere hiding he would find her and visit her tonight. If she had thought to escape from him, he would kill her. She wasn't that good in bed anyway.

He threw open her door and flicked on the light. The room was clearly empty. He went to the room he'd put his brothers' bride in and did the same, with the same result. Beginning to feel rage swirling in the pit of his stomach, he went to the door just down from Lydia's and did the same, searching through the room while the pretty blonde huddled in the corner of the bed and watched him like a wild animal watches a threat to it's survival.

After finding that she was the only one there, he went to the next room and then the next. When he reached the last room, he returned to where Najeeb was standing and watching him closely.

"We should wake everyone and get them to search. I'm missing one of my women and if you're missing one of yours, there is a chance that her friends may also be missing."

Najeeb paled as his eyes grew huge and then he turned and ran for his home. Malik followed briskly, stopping to rouse his other brothers as he went. The four of them reached the courtyard that belonged to Najeeb just as he came out of the last of his rooms.

"They're gone! All of them are gone!"

Malik shared looks with his brothers and received nods of agreement. He gave the order.

"Search the place. Top to bottom. And rouse the dogs; if they've thought they could hide from us, we shall find them and teach them what happens when a woman rebels against our most sacred laws."

New Section

The furious sound of a bunch of baying dogs brought all of them swinging around in terror.

"Oh gods no; it sounds like they're really close."

"Sound travels when it is this still and quiet, particularly now that it has stopped snowing. The snow will confuse them only a little bit and as soon as they see the blood drops, because no doubt they've got torches, they'll know where we've gone.

"I know you're all tired, but run as if your life depends on it and trust me when I say that it does."

Emily took Jordan back from Marnie and broke into a run, praying as she went that the weakness flooding through her body didn't dump them both on the ground.

**End-**

**A/N: Don't worry, there will be another update shortly. Hope you all have a marvellous weekend. **

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker.**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: And here we are again. Another chapter...and the answer to the all-important question; do the girls get away from the bad guys and the dogs.**

**Not a day has gone by since I posted my first ffn story that I haven't appreciated the power of a simple (or in some cases, not so simple) review. It has the power to encourage you or to tear you apart. Thankfully I haven't really had any of the latter type of review. Even when I'm posting something with content most people would frown at, you are all still there encouraging me and urging me onwards. So this is for all of you. Thanks to HGRHfan35, Hazmatt, greengirl82, miaa29 and HPforever-after (for chapters 21, 22 & 23). I also want to thank spk for your reviews of The Road to Nowhere, Life's An Alphabet (J & Z), Silence (sorry about the headache), The Longest Night and Missing. In addition, I want to thank melodic2686 for your reviews of Life's An Alphabet (C & Z). I really do appreciate you all.**

**Thanks again to the gorgeous Wtiger5 for your inspiration of Lydia Scott...for being my medical guru and for your silent reviews. Your advice, information and support is invaluable to me and this totally wouldn't be this good without you. Thanks for being the most amazing sister and friend. Love you my darling.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 24

The road appeared in front of them so suddenly that they didn't have time to check their momentum; one moment they were running up a slope and the next they burst out onto the road...and straight into the path of an oncoming truck.

New Section

"This is almost useless! We aren't getting anywhere; nothing Emily gave us is helping us _now_!"

Dave and Reid watched Alex throw a file almost clear across the large room they were in before stalking out the door muttering about needing air.

"Throwing things is just as useless, if not more so," Reid pointed out calmly.

"You think he's still in love with Emily?"

Reid shifted in his wheelchair. "I'm feeling embarrassed about the whole situation; I'd really rather not sit here and contemplate Agent Jackson's feelings for Emily."

"Wuss," Dave said teasingly. He should have known that calling Reid names, even in jest, wouldn't get him the reaction he would normally have gotten from, say, Morgan.

He sighed quietly and looked around the room. Everyone was hard at work trying to crack open this case, but with so little to go on they weren't getting anywhere. The one piece of evidence they had that might have given them the identification of one of these guys had only revealed that they weren't registered on any database either in this country or overseas. Which put them right back at square one.

His second sigh was more revealing of his tired state of mind as he turned back to the paperwork sitting in front of him. His third five minutes later was one of defeat.

"Alex is right Reid; this really is useless. They've gone over all of this so many times before that if there had been anything to pick up they would have well and truly found it by now. I think we're just here to kill time. Unless you can tell me you actually have something we can use."

Reid shook his head as he sat back in his wheelchair and put the papers in his hands down on the desk.

"I have less than nothing. The California team has good people; in reality, they didn't need our help because they'd already come up with everything there was to come up with."

"I agree. Want to come with me while I get coffee and then head back to the hospital to wait for news?"

"Coffee? Rossi, it's almost midnight."

Dave nodded. "Yes it is, and unless you were thinking of sleeping while the girls are missing, we _will_ need liquid sustenance to get us through. Therefore; coffee."

Reid looked around the room before nodding slowly. "Can I suggest we avoid Agent Jackson if at all possible? He doesn't strike me as being patient enough at this moment to understand why we're leaving them to it."

Dave chuckled as he silently agreed with the young doctor's point of view. They slipped from the room and luckily managed to avoid Alex Jackson and his massively bad mood.

"So kid, do you know how to find a great cup of coffee in a foreign city?"

Reid shook his head. "I just take whatever I'm given and I've only ever been sent for coffee once."

"How did that go?" Dave asked as he hid his amusement.

"If the look on JJ's face in particular was anything to go by, it was terrible."

Dave let loose with a belly laugh. "Oh dear. Okay, let's educate you." He brought them to a halt in the middle of the street, ignoring the cross looks he was receiving. "Standing here, I can see five coffee shops. I've already figured out which one will get me the best cup of coffee, but I'm curious to know first which one you would choose."

Reid looked around them at the well-lit sidewalks slowly, then pointed to a small shop front three doors down from them. When Dave raised an eyebrow in question, he replied, "It'll get us the coffee sooner than if we went to any of the other shops because it's closer and there doesn't appear to be a wait to get it. And there's six by the way. Coffee shops I mean."

He pointed out the ones he could see, but the one Dave had missed was negligible to this lesson because it appeared to be just like the one Reid had first pointed out, only further away from them.

Dave shook his head in mock sadness. "Kid, if that was how you chose the coffee that day, I'm not surprised it was terrible and those factors are exactly the ones to avoid."

"Huh?"

"Listen, the locals are easily going to know the best places to get coffee. And they are going to flock to them. If you want great coffee, go to the place where the line is the longest. Yes, you will have to wait longer for it, but the coffee will easily be better there than anywhere else in the area. Now, knowing this, where should we get coffee?"

Reid pointed across the busy city street to the coffee shop with the line out the door.

"Now you're talking kid."

New Section

Sampson looked up as a cup was waved under his nose.

"Good God; that actually smells like real coffee."

"That's because it _is_ real coffee. Reid and I made a stop on our way from the office."

"And where is the young doctor?"

"Back with his wife. I didn't bother discussing it with him; I just pushed him in to her bedside and left him to it."

"Hmm. Probably the smartest thing you could have done, considering. Well, since you _are_ bringing me a gift like this, I won't pass on to you Alex's _strongly_ worded message about leaving your posts without telling him."

Dave shrugged as he dropped into the seat beside Sampson's. "He was throwing things around; we thought it was safest for all concerned that we just slip out while he was taking a breather. It's not as if we were getting anywhere. You have a good, solid team."

Sampson nodded. "I agree. The only reason they reached out for additional help is that the daughter of a very powerful international figurehead was one of those taken and suddenly we have pressure from every direction to crack this."

"It doesn't help though that your boss came face to face with his ex-fiancée, who just happens to be the wife of _our_ boss."

"No, that certainly doesn't help. So there was no new news when you left?"

"Sadly no. They aren't the only ones that are frustrated, but at least your women are all accounted for. If anyone has any reason to throw anything or have an attitude, it should definitely be us."

"Agreed," Sampson said softly as he sipped his coffee. He nodded to the four men standing at the window. "I'm deeply concerned for them. They don't move unless a child needs them and then they're only half with that child anyway. The rest of them is with their other half, wherever that may be."

"You have to admit their concerns and fears are justified though. These guys have tried three times to take them; they aren't going to have any patience left to deal with them now that they've been successful. Even if we find their _palace_, there's no guarantee we'll get our women back in one piece. I'm really scared for them and _my_ woman is just down the hall resting. Can you imagine the scenarios running through _their_ heads?"

Sampson sighed. "I think I'm just so tired my infinite patience is coming to an end. I want to find these guys and smash them into nothingness and then bring them back to stand trial for what they've done."

"Okay, that actually didn't sound much like you; which I admit could be way off base since I've only known you about a week. What's going on?"

He sighed softly. "I'm worried about what's coming because as a counsellor, I see this kind of thing all the time and it still saddens me more than almost anything else."

"What kind of thing?"

"Have you ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome?"

Dave shuddered slightly and dumped his empty coffee cup in the bin. "I've been face-to-face with victims displaying that syndrome on numerous occasions. It hasn't gotten easier as the years have passed."

"I doubt it will ever get easier. It's not something that can be treated with drugs; rather, the drugs aren't the best way to treat it. The women who have been taken over the years have been held _beyond_ breaking point. From what Emily heard, most of the women we may be able to rescue have been married for years to these guys and a lot of them are going to have children by them."

"So what you're saying is that reintegrating them into society isn't going to be as easy as I was hoping it would be? I mean, I figured Stockholm's would be part and parcel of breaking this team of unsubs, but when you throw children into the mix with women and protective maternal instincts..."

"That is _exactly_ what I am saying. We are talking long-term abuse and brainwashing. None of these women will ever be the same again and their families are going to be in for a shock if they think those that have been taken will be relieved to be rescued. For the most part, these women are not going to take too kindly to us coming in and ripping apart their lives as they see it. And it won't matter if they were already married, either with or without children."

"Damn but that sounds so incredibly morbid. And yet I know you're right and I'm just trying to avoid the complicated, messy truth."

Sampson sighed tiredly and nodded as he slouched down in his chair. "Morbid maybe, but it _is_ the truth. I used to see it all the time when I worked full time as a trauma counsellor. We're going to see some families that just _can't_ reconnect because the differences are going to be too great for all involved. For those who can be rehabilitated and reintegrated into normal society, the process is mostly going to take years. There will be some, the most recently kidnapped, who will have less to deal with and will most likely respond well to the counselling and therapy that will be offered to them, but the majority are really going to struggle."

"Shit."

"Yeah, that pretty much covers it."

"If we find these women, how much support is there going to be in the long term for them?"

"Long term? Not too sure. I think that will be up to the individual families to follow up on. In the short term though, I have no doubt the media attention will call down a lot of help and support for all involved."

Dave made a derisive noise. "That just means that there are going to be women who fall through the cracks."

"Sadly yes; but that happens all the time. Why should now be any different?"

They fell silent as they both thought on what they'd just been discussing.

New Section

The sudden light, after running along a path in dark woods in the dead of night, brought Penelope and Lydia to an abrupt, frightened halt. It was only thanks to Carrie and Marnie knocking into the two women hard as they burst out of the woods right behind them that got them all out of the way as the truck driver blasted his horn and hit the brakes.

Emily got to the top of the incline as the truck came to a screeching halt. "Pick yourselves up and run," she urged them. "There's no way them that are following us didn't hear that horn. Hurry!"

Marnie bounced to her feet and helped Lydia and Penelope to get up. Carrie tried to get up and found that she couldn't. Marnie didn't hesitate to haul the slight woman up and over her shoulder as they hurried after Emily.

Emily reached the front of the long truck just as the driver was opening his door.

"Lady, are you nuts? What're you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Trying to escape from some sadistic men who kidnapped us. Please, do you hear the dogs baying?" When he nodded, she said with a slight quiver in her voice as her whole body started shaking, "Those dogs are coming for us and when the men with them get hold of us, they _will_ kill us, and you if you're still here. Please, can you help us?"

The guy looked like he wasn't sure if he believed them, but their injuries, coupled with the fact that Penelope and Lydia were clearly pregnant and they were all less than dressed for the cold of the night, decided him.

"If you can all fit in the cab, I'll take you to safety. But if those dogs are indeed for you, you might want to hurry."

Despite his own obvious concern for his safety, he took the time to help them all into the cab before he got in himself. Restarting the truck, he cranked the heat and took off the brake as he worked the clutch. And as the truck started rolling, he shivered as a bunch of men and dogs broke out of the woods where the women had been when he'd nearly run them down.

He could see them shouting and gesturing wildly for him to stop, and he hesitated in applying his foot to the accelerator. He flicked a glance at the two women in the front seat with him. The white woman had the unconscious black woman almost in her lap and was holding her securely. A second glance showed him she was looking at him from her chocolate coloured eyes; a look that seemed to sear straight through to his soul as she said tiredly, "Please; we just want to go home."

Her sadness decided him and he lowered his foot to the accelerator, increasing the truck's speed as he hoped his indecision hadn't kept him from getting them clear of their nightmare before it was too late.

**End-**

**A/N: Ha ha...free of the bad guys...or are they? Stay tuned for the answer to that all important question coming to you shortly.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker.**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: I know, I know...I am such a tease. But we are getting closer to a resolution of some kind, so read on to see how much closer we are to finding out if the girls actually get away. **

**I'm going to keep my thanks for reviews short and sweet this chapter. I think by now that if you don't know how truly grateful I am for your words of encouragement to me, I'm not keeping up my end of this crazy journey. But just in case you haven't gotten it yet; I LOVE YOU ALL! So thanks to NicknHotchfan, miaa29, HGRHfan35, greengirl82, Hazmatt, sarahb2007, Wtiger5, HPforever-after and melodic2686 (chs 19 & 24) for inspiring me on to greater and greater cliffies...ahem...chapters. ;)**

**Also everyone please note: I love these characters! If I didn't, one or more of them would be dead by now. But I do assure you all that it WILL come good in the end, because I DO love them to pieces and I would never permanently harm them. Good times are a comin'. **

**As always, I couldn't do this as well as I have done without the magical help of the gorgeous Wtiger5; your inspiration of Lydia Scott has and is enriching this story beyond belief. I am also entirely appreciative of your help with providing me with my much-needed medical advice. Your love and support is invaluable to me; thanks for being the most amazing sister and friend. Love you sweetie.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 25

She didn't know when she'd fallen asleep, but she woke as the sun inched its way in through the windshield and struck her face. Time stopped for a moment as memory returned and she came awake with a jerk and a whimper representing the pain her body was in. Emily looked around wildly as her eyes grew accustomed to the dim light in the cab of the truck, but gradually she calmed as the driver, who had introduced himself as Doug shortly after the truck had fully picked up speed the night before, shot her a brief smile.

"Morning Emily. Did you sleep well?"

She shifted, stifling another pain noise as she straightened up carefully.

"I'm not sure I'll ever sleep well again, but it helped for sure. Where are we?"

"We're about an hour from New York. I had to stop for a short rest break a couple of hours ago."

"Oh."

Jordan groaned against her and shifted.

"What hit me?" she mumbled groggily.

"Not too sure about that, but considering the shape of your bruises when you were changing earlier, I'd say several booted feet and clenched fists."

"It feels like I got hit by a truck."

"Nope; we actually managed to avoid that fracas, but Penelope and Lydia very nearly did get run over."

"What?"

Jordan shifted her head but kept her eyes closed. She wasn't entirely sure her head was still attached to her neck, but the amount of pain she was in _everywhere_ was a slight reassurance of how well everything was still attached. But then there was the concern that she might have brain damage because surely she hadn't just heard what she had?

She forced her eyes open and jerked backwards despite her pain, catching her elbow on someone's ribs and causing them both to yelp in pain. When they'd finally stopped writhing, she looked carefully at the guy driving the vehicle they were in to see that he hadn't moved from his spot before slowly turning her head to view the glare Emily was shooting her way.

"Sorry," she muttered. "What's going on?"

"Big long story short, after you passed out we kept going and eventually left the trail. The road was there so suddenly and the girls were going so fast they ended up in the middle of the lane before they knew it. After we avoided getting run over, Doug agreed to drive us to safety."

Jordan shot the driver another look. He didn't look that scary now that she was properly awake and in possession of the story of how they'd gotten where they were.

Emily watched Doug look in his side mirror again and like the times he'd done it before a frown came over his face.

"You look worried," she said softly. He shot her a look and shook his head slightly. "Tell me, please."

He sighed quietly. "I'd just left the rest stop when I noticed a van behind us. I didn't think too much about it, but when it didn't overtake at the first opportunity it had, I started keeping an eye on it. Then I hit a winding road on a downward slope and you could have easily walked faster than the truck. But the van stayed behind me the whole way down, even though there was an overtaking lane half way down that everyone else behind them used. They're still behind us."

Everything in Emily went still. That meant that if they stopped somewhere now, chances were good they were all going to die.

"There's more. I'm going to need fuel soon."

"How soon?" Emily took Jordan's hand as the other woman's voice squeaked slightly at the end. She'd clearly been thinking the same thing.

"I might just be able to get us into New York. But I'm not sure how far into the city we'll manage to get. Any chance you girls have connections that could help us out? Because I know I don't."

Jordan shot her a look that plainly asked how much they'd told their good Samaritan. Emily shook her head just slightly and asked cautiously, "Do you have a mobile I could use?"

"I have the mobile, but we won't have reception until about five minutes outside of the city limits. Boss said it has something to do interference of some kind that I didn't quite understand when he explained it."

"So what happens if you break down outside of the signal?" Penelope asked from the back seat. Jordan turned her head carefully to see all four women huddled together for warmth and comfort. They were exchanging tentative smiles when Doug spoke again.

"I have a panic trip-switch that I can hit that will ping the office with my GPS coordinates; the office then dispatches both a highway patrol car and a tow truck."

"Why the patrol car?"

"In case it's actually a robbery instead of a breakdown."

"What's the response time like?"

"I've never personally been involved in a panic call, but I've heard a buddy hit the button and the patrol car was at his location in under five minutes. The tow truck took almost two hours to follow, but the patrol stayed with him while they waited because there had been some robberies in that area at that time."

"So hitting the panic button wouldn't help us while we're moving."

"Not in the slightest. A patrol car might come quickly but because we would be moving it would overlook us, even if the plates matched the ping." They all fell silent as they contemplated this. Doug waited a moment before asking, "So you _do_ have connections?"

"My husband is with the FBI. I don't know exactly where he is right now, but if I can contact him with enough notice, he can meet us with firepower enough to protect _all_ of us."

Doug nodded slowly and pulled out his mobile. "Here; take this. Watch the signal strength and as soon as you can, you call as many people as you need to. I don't particularly think my wife would be too happy with me if I mentioned I'd helped you girls out and then got hurt for my troubles, so you call up as much help as you think we need."

"Considering this is the third time they've tried taking us and they are _still_ following us, I'm not sure the _entire_ combined force of the FBI would be enough to save us from them now," Carrie muttered in the back seat.

"Doesn't stop us from trying," Lydia said soothingly as Emily started checking the signal strength on the phone.

New Section

Dave was almost asleep in his chair when a light hand ran over the top of his head and brought him to immediate wakefulness. He tipped his head back to see Teresa smiling sleepily down at him.

"I was missing your presence in my bed and when I couldn't get back to sleep, I thought I might come find you."

He smiled back at her and tugged her around and down to his lap. She settled down pretty quickly with a happy sigh.

"Sorry love; I was helping Sampson keep an eye on these guys. How are you feeling?"

"Apart from mildly nauseated and incredibly sleepy, I'm fine. And since the nausea is bearable, I'm not blaming you just yet for getting me into this position."

He smothered a chuckle as he grinned and gently kissed the top of her head. "I greatly appreciate not needing to accept all the blame for bedding you well enough to plant my child in your womb."

She made a soft sound of assent and shivered just slightly. He leaned forward just enough to slip his jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders. Her happy sigh a moment later was the last he heard from her before her breathing evened out into sleep.

"Congratulations," Sampson said softly.

Dave smiled and tightened his arms around his sleeping woman. "Thanks."

Sampson nodded and they lapsed back into another contented silence. And with Teresa safe in his arms, her body heat keeping him warm in the cool hospital air, he was just starting to doze off again when the sound of several babies crying started coming closer.

Teresa stirred to wakefulness in his arms as a nurse marched into the room with a screaming baby in her arms. And by the way Aaron turned immediately from the window, it was one of his girls. Two other nurses followed the first into the room, each with a crying baby. By their uniforms, they'd clearly come from the ward that looked after babies and toddlers, where the three youngest of their family had been placed for observation after what had happened to their mothers.

Not a single one of them, from the oldest to the youngest, was happy.

The first nurse marched right up to Aaron and deposited the child into the arms he lifted automatically to receive her. He instantly shifted her up against his shoulder and started to rub her back as he tucked her closer, her cries immediately beginning to ease.

"Right; this is how it's going to work from now on. I don't care how distraught you are over your missing wife. There isn't a lot you can do about that until she is found and standing here at a window and shirking your duties as a parent won't help anyone. Your daughters have been fed, bathed and changed. They've had more than enough cuddles from my nursing staff and as you can hear, they're still crying. Now that Chloe has stopped crying, it just proves my theory; she needs her father.

"So you're going to stop moping and you're going to shower your daughters with love, cuddles and attention. And while you're at it, you're going to take a walk down to your son's room and spend some time with him. Read, or tell him, a story; let him cuddle one, or both of his sisters and _reassure_ him that everything is alright because right now, I've heard he's thinking he's lost both of his parents.

"And don't even _think_ of answering that ringing phone until you do. If it is about your missing wife, there are other people that can be called. Sally, give him India as well."

The youngest of the three nurses shot the older woman an awed look and placed the other crying baby into the agent's arms. Derek had already been given Ben to hold and sudden blissful silence met their ears.

"The same applies to you Agent Morgan. Your son is old enough to know something isn't right and he needs your reassurance and your love. And since you don't have other children, you can focus your sole attention on him. And _don't_ answer _your_ phone either."

Derek pulled the phone out anyway and checked the number. Shaking his head slightly, he slipped the phone back into his pocket and tucked Ben in closer.

"And one of you needs to go and sit with Toby; he's feeling very alone and vulnerable right now and just because he doesn't have a father doesn't mean he should be left in that state."

"Can he leave his bed?" Aaron asked cautiously. He was struggling to wrap his head around the fact that this stranger had just put him in his place; something that shouldn't have been necessary if he'd been thinking straight and remembering that Emily _wasn't_ his entire, and only, world.

"For a short period of time yes. Why?"

"Toby and Jack often share a bed at home. They find it comforting because they consider themselves brothers. I was thinking of shifting Toby into Jack's bed and reading to all four of them at the same time."

He only just restrained a sigh of relief as her severe look eased into a small smile. "If they fall asleep while in the same bed then that's fine. Yes?" she asked in answer to Kevin's tentatively raised hand.

"Am I allowed to answer _my_ phone?"

"Do you have any children in my ward?"

"No ma'am, I don't. My wife's pregnant with our first child."

"Then you may answer your phone."

Teresa smothered a giggle at the relieved look on Kevin's face as he pressed a button on his phone and lifted it to his ear. Everyone else, including the angry nurse, was fighting not to smile as he said hello.

But somehow he'd hit the speaker button because the next thing they knew, all the smiles were gone.

"How hard is it, when your wives are missing, is it to get _one_ of you, just _one_, to answer his phone? Hmm? Answer me that if you please. No wait, Emily's saying don't bother about the answering, just put Hotch on."

"Ah, babe? You're on speaker phone, so just get Emily to speak and he'll hear. Oh, and I love you."

"Aww, I love you too hunkmeister."

_Hunkmeister?_

"I would normally be keen to get the answer to Pen's question as well, but right now I need people with guns and I need them fast."

"Babe, my arms are full with girls and I was being scolded by an irate nurse, otherwise we would have already had this conversation because I would have answered the call in the first instance. What's going on?"

"Turn here. Babe, your arms may be full of babies but in just a couple of minutes, my body is no doubt going to be full of bullets. So give the babies back to the irate nurse and come rescue all of us."

Aaron didn't have to ask, the nurses stepped forward as one unit and took the babies back. Teresa slipped off of Dave's lap and handed his jacket back to him as he stood and checked that his gun was still secured.

"I'll go sit with the boys and tell that what's going on. Are we getting all of you back."

"Oh shit...sorry, yes; more or less. We'll need medical help straight away though."

"Where are you?"

"About two blocks away from the hospital where Austin is. Where are you?"

"At the hospital where Austin is. How long...?"

"Traffic is reasonably light so I doubt it will be more than a few minutes. You might want to hurry; they're right behind us and no doubt wanting to kill us to keep their little torture palace location a secret. We won't have much time at all once we stop; locked doors don't stop bullets."

"Come back safely; that's an order!" Teresa yelled at the men's rapidly retreating backs. She turned to Mirkal. "We need to call your boss and tell him what's going on."

He nodded agreement and pulled out his phone. Holding down a single key, the call rapidly went through as he put it on speakerphone.

"Jackson."

Mirkal grimaced, not liking how snarky his boss sounded. Teresa thankfully beat him to speaking.

"Emily just phoned to say they've escaped. They'll be pulling up out front of this hospital any minute now but they have unsubs hot on their tail so the guys here need immediate backup."

The tone of a call abruptly disconnected met their silence and Kevin shook his head.

"Man, no offence, but your boss needs to take a chill pill."

Mirkal shrugged. "None taken. Shall we go downstairs to wait for Carrie and Penelope?"

Kevin's answer was to head for the door. Mirkal followed quickly and Teresa was left shaking her head, a combination of worry and amusement washing over her as she went to find the boys and reassure them that their mothers were coming back to them.

**End-**

**A/N: I promise, we are going to be getting a resolution shortly...it's just taking a little longer than expected. **

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker.**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Closer...and closer...**

**I know I've driven you all crazy with how drawn out this story is and I'm sure the near-constant cliffies haven't been helping anyone's constitution. I appreciate all of you still reading this mad story of mine and I very deeply appreciate those of you still reviewing after so long. Thanks to HGRHfan35, greengirl82, Hazmatt, miaa29 and spk for your wonderful words of encouragement. This is for all of you.**

**I know you're away when I post this, but I totally couldn't do this without you my lovely. I give continued thanks to the wonderful, gorgeous Wtiger5 for all her medical help and for her inspiration of Lydia Scott. I love your sweetness and your friendship. Thanks for being the beautiful friend and sister you are. **

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 26

"Do we stay in the truck while the guys rescue us or bolt for the entrance to the hospital?" Penelope asked anxiously. Not that she would be bolting anywhere, but she could dream.

"Jordan's in no position to go anywhere and Emily won't be moving so they'll be staying where they are. Perhaps it would be better for all of us to stay put," Doug said. "That way, there's less chance of a stray bullet catching us in the back as we run away," he added in a mutter as he turned the wheel to move the truck into the Ambulance Only entrance to the hospital parking lot.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh; there they are!" Carrie shouted gleefully as she spotted Hotch, Morgan and Rossi with their guns out and ready to be used standing alongside the doctor-agent from the other team, who was holding a rather large looking rifle competently.

As the truck slowed to a sick-sounding coast, the guys moved past them heading for the back of the truck; and the van that was definitely following them.

But just as suddenly as they disappeared around the side of the truck, the van appeared and shot past the cab of the truck, sending a spray of bullets flying at them. The girls shrieked and ducked down and Doug swore as a bullet whizzed past his head so close he could feel the heat of it as glass shattered and sprayed all over them.

Then they all jumped and screamed slightly as the door to the cab was opened.

"Don't do that!" Penelope shouted as she placed a hand over her racing heart.

"Oh shit."

New Section

Much as he wanted to get to that truck and ensure Emily was alright, despite not having a single claim to her, Alex spun the wheel of the SUV hard and peeled out of the hospital lane after the van that he'd just been informed belonged to their unsubs. Eric and Phil grabbed hand holds and swore as the vehicle went up on two wheels briefly and horns blared as they cut across traffic in pursuit.

"Tell Clare and Cassie to stay at the hospital to bolster security around the BAU women. We need those women alive to lead us back to where they were being held."

Eric immediately fished his phone out of his pocket and called the order through. Alex continued to manipulate the vehicle under him with single-minded intensity, weaving it in and out of traffic, eyes firmly fixed on the van. They ignored horns blaring and people shouting at them at times when the only way around an obstruction was to mount the sidewalk.

"It looks like the van is doing a long, wide loop to go back the way it came. How's our fuel gauge?"

"Running full."

"Good; we can out-drive them and when they stop, we can pick them up. Call for back-up to catch up to us. We don't want to be surprised if they call for help; I'd rather not die today if I can help it."

New Section

Derek Morgan felt his heart stop at the sight that met him as he yanked the truck's passenger door open. Emily's eyes met his for a second and then her head ducked back down.

"Doctor," he cried hoarsely as he holstered his gun. Clearing his throat, he bellowed it as loud as he could. "We need a doctor now!"

Emily finished breathing into Jordan's mouth and went back to chest compressions as Derek stepped up on the first step that assisted easier entry into the high cab.

"What happened?"

Emily didn't answer for a second as she breathed again into her friends mouth.

"My guess is Malik administered her Rites and paid her back for breaking his arm." She paused for another breath before continuing. "She only stopped breathing a few minutes ago so I'm hoping they can help her if they hurry up."

"Move!"

The authoritative male voice coming from the tall man who suddenly appeared behind Derek had Emily flinching slightly and the other man moving out of the way without hesitation. He stepped up into Derek's place and smiled slightly at her.

"You're doing well, but you look like you could use some medical attention yourself, so I'll get Gary to take over from you."

She felt the movement behind her and tensed right up. She shifted her balance, not sure if she wanted to stay and protect Jordan or run for her life. But Gary turned out to be a smart, and incredibly intuitive, man.

"Easy does it. I'm sitting behind the wheel at the moment and I'll be coming in at your side. You really are doing well, so you keep doing that until you're comfortable moving out the passenger side past Doctor Ford, alright?"

She nodded slightly and turned her head. He had gloves on his hands, so they weren't resting on the steering wheel, but his forearms were, with his hands in plain sight. His eyes were focused clearly on her and the look in them was both competent, patient and filled with compassion. Somehow he knew and he wasn't judging her and that knowledge helped to relax her enough to continue doing what needed to be done.

She nodded just slightly and shifted as far over as she could. She stopped compressions to breathe and once she'd done that, he took over the compressions. She turned to the door and found the way was clear for her. Well, almost clear.

She slipped down onto the step and straight into Aaron's waiting arms. She felt him move back immediately and felt other movement around her. Her head came snapping up as something coarse yet warm wrapped around her.

"Easy love. Dave's just giving you his jacket." His eyes narrowed as she shifted to see the other man and when she looked back, she knew he'd figured it out.

"Em..."

"Not here; please."

He nodded. He helped her get her arms into the bulky fabric, then lifted her clear off her feet and started walking towards the entrance to the hospital. A doctor came forward and Aaron immediately stopped moving forward and backed up a step.

"We need a woman here."

He nodded his understanding and called out to someone else. A nurse approached and asked them to follow her; leading them in to a private room, she produced a hospital gown and left them to it.

She changed with a deep-seated gratefulness for getting rid of that horrible feeling of satin; she was sure that she would now associate it with the worst night of her life for the _rest_ of her life.

"Emily."

She tucked the blanket he wrapped around her more securely around her body, admitting to herself that she was huddling into the warmth because she was afraid of what she had to say.

"It was Malik; the same guy who beat Jordan almost, if not all the way, to death."

"Don't talk like that. She's as strong as any of you; she'll pull through."

"Will she? Will any of us?"

He sat on the bed just in front of her and cupped her face in his hands. "Do you love me?"

She nodded vigorously; through all that she had been through, she had never let go of that fact. She just knew she'd need that reminder later.

"Then hold on to that, and the knowledge that no matter what has been done to you, I _still_ love _you._ Always and forever Em. Do you remember my vows to you on our wedding day?"

When she nodded, he started to speak and within words, she'd been reduced to great, heaving sobs as he fiercely declared his vows to her all over again. His arms became a secure haven as she clung to him and cried out her grief over all that she'd just lost.

"Never forget, Emily Hotchner, that you are my wife. You can safely bring me _anything_ and I will be with you supporting you as we deal with it _together_. This included. But if you shut me out, I can't help you and I certainly can't reassure you that I am always here for you no matter what. You need to talk to me and never stop. And if something that once used to be wonderful between us is now something that makes you pause or brings you even a momentary uncomfortableness, say something immediately. There are ways around everything, but only if we work together. In the same way you were there for me _without ceasing_ when I had my breakdown, so too am I now here for you. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she whispered as her sobs eased. She sighed softly. "I will need you, _always_, but more so now as I deal with this. But my hope is that by distancing myself from the act when it happened that I will be stronger now to deal with it. _Not_ on my own, I promise; I need your strength far too much to try this without you."

"Then it's a good thing that I'm actually stronger than I've ever been thanks to Renaldi."

"Mmm; remind me to send him some flowers in thanks."

He grinned at her before feathering her face with some light kisses that made her want more. Yet he never pushed and the kisses never landed where she actually wanted him to go. She was just about to ask for what she really wanted when the door opened, causing her to jump at the suddenness of it.

Aaron's arms wrapped her up in another tight hug that eased some of the tension out of her body as an older woman walked in.

"I'm sorry I startled you just now. Despite not intending to, it does answer my first question of whether you were raped in addition to having been beaten. You're Emily Hotchner?"

She nodded wordlessly, watching the competence the older woman had as she laid a cloth on a tray.

"My name is Martha Hammit; I'm a doctor specialising in women's health. I'd like to send you firstly for a series of full-body x-rays to determine what, if anything, is broken or fractured, and I'd also like to take some blood from you. Then, I'll get you back here so that I can run a Sexual Offense Evidence Collection kit on you. In case you've never heard the term used, it is the glorified version of a rape kit. And while I'm doing that, if you'd like to talk to me about what happened, I've been told that I am a very easy person to speak to. But I need for you to understand straight away that _nothing_ happens here today that you don't _want_ to happen. You have _complete_ control over all of this. Do you understand?"

She nodded and pressed tighter into Aaron's arms as she tipped her head up to look at him.

"Will you stay with me?"

"You'd need a sledgehammer to pry me away from your side."

She found herself smiling despite the panic subtly worming its way into her heart and mind. And somehow that small smile gave her just enough hope that she really _could_ get through this intact. She felt her panic trickling away and returning her gaze to Martha, she nodded slowly.

"If Aaron can stay with me, I'm okay with the plan."

Martha's smile was gentle. "Good; let's get started then."

New Section

Dave poked his head into Austin's room and found the woman he'd been frantically looking for over the last fifteen minutes. In fact, he found pretty much everyone who hadn't been taken this last time.

Teresa was a smart woman; that was undeniable. Particularly in that moment as she came up to him and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm sorry Dave; I asked the nurse to tell you where I was but I'm guessing she either didn't see you or she forgot. I'm sorry I worried you, even for a moment."

His breath eased out of where it had been trapped since he realised she wasn't in her bed and no one knew where she was and his racing heart slowed to a far more manageable speed.

"It's alright," he whispered as he held her tight and inhaled the scent that was unique to her.

"How are they?" Reid asked anxiously.

Dave looked the room over and found everyone was watching him with equal levels of anxiety. He sighed tiredly and walked forward to take the seat Teresa had just vacated, urging her to sit on his lap. Only once he had her tucked into his arms and he was sure she wasn't going anywhere did he speak.

"Marnie and Lydia, the two women who helped our ladies escape, have been tucked into a private room. Marnie's family and Lydia's husband have been contacted and are on their way.

"Penelope is traumatised but doing alright. They hadn't gotten around to administering any Rites or otherwise on her and because she didn't eat or drink anything, her baby is doing well despite being in a slight bit of distress.

"Carrie has multiple fractured ribs and a hairline fracture to her hip. She's also got some internal bleeding, but it is minimal and she is expected to make a full recovery. I left her falling asleep with Toby in her arms and Mirkal watching over the both of them. Toby seems to have adjusted well to him suddenly being a big part of his mother's life."

"He probably senses that Mirkal is nothing like his abusive father," Austin said softly.

Dave nodded agreement. "Jordan is currently still in surgery. Her fractured and broken ribs severely lacerated her spleen and towards the end, apparently she jerked in pain over something and they think it may have punctured one of her lungs. If not that, it definitely collapsed a lung and she stopped breathing. Lydia said it isn't that surprising since Malik had administered the beating."

"And Emily?" Reid demanded.

Dave took in a deep breath of Teresa's unique scent, using it to calm him before he spoke.

"She's currently enduring a rape kit."

Everyone looked as horrified as he'd felt when he'd knocked on the door and poked his head into the room. He hadn't realised what was going on and thankfully he hadn't actually seen anything he wasn't supposed to, but he'd still felt shame for barging in on them. Luckily Aaron had come out pretty quickly and reassured him that it was fine. He'd asked him to tell everyone with a note to be careful about approaching Emily for the next while.

"Hotch is going to be furious," JJ murmured as she huddled deeper into Will's arms with a shudder.

Dave cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. Despite Aaron's easy manner with him after what he'd walked in on, he'd come away from the conversation wanting to protect the equipment that made him male. He seriously doubted whether Malik would come out of any kind of confrontation with Aaron Hotchner intact and wondered if anyone would care enough if Aaron actually got near the man to stop him.

"Let's just say _furious_ is a gross understatement and leave it at that."

"Did we hear if Agent Jackson's team caught the unsubs that followed them back?" Will asked, quickly changing the subject as he shifted uneasily.

Dave shook his head. "Apparently the unsubs shot out the tires on their SUV, leaving them temporarily stranded. But they'd already called for backup so they were picked up pretty quickly. Unfortunately by then the van was well and truly out of sight."

"Did the girls give us anything?"

"They're all too traumatised at the moment. They gave us a location off a winding mountain road into heavy bush."

"So how will we find them?"

"Doug Kramer is the Samaritan who picked them up, and said he was somewhere in the Adirondacks when he did. His truck is fitted with a GPS system that records the location of every stop where the engine was turned off; all we need to do is convince either Kevin or Mirkal to peel themselves from their ladies' sides and then we'll get the information we need and we'll go in. Considering the sizes that Lydia and Marnie mentioned, we are also waiting on additional FBI teams from around the country to arrive before the raid into the compound goes ahead. They'll also be sending in Red Cross counsellors to deal with the women in the first instance."

"That's good," Teresa murmured. "I can't imagine how hard this is going to be for those women."

"It's definitely not going to be a walk in the park. For _anyone_."

They fell silent and pondered this fact as snow once again began to fall outside the window.

**End-**

**A/N: And we're there...now we just have to take us out some unsubs...hmm; that may be easier said than done.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: Okay, so now our girls are safe again, but we still have some really, seriously bad dudes to run down. We aren't quite there yet though; I have a couple of points to deal with first, but I promise we WILL be going after those bad guys.**

**I know a lot of authors will personally take the time to thank each person who reviews with an individualised PM. But if I did that for every review you lovely people left me, you wouldn't get updates as frequently. So instead I stop for a moment here to absolutely appreciate every single one of you who dropped me a line. Thanks so much to Hazmatt, greengirl82, HGRHfan35, NicknHotchfan and melodic2686; you guys totally make me smile with happiness and want to bring happiness to this little world I've created. So I will.**

**Just a note for those concerned about the mention of x-rays in the previous chapter; I do a LOT of research for these stories, both with a real live health professional (see next paragraph for mention of medical guru), and by using Google for additional information. I was content that Emily COULD get x-rays without it harming her baby; I considered the risk to be minimal. And because this is my world, not something that would affect our pregnant mamma's anyway. Thank you all for your concern though, it was very sweet. **

**So my medical guru is STILL away at the moment and I am missing her heaps, but she totally deserves her break and I really hope it was totally refreshing for her once it is finished. But I'll thank her anyway; Wtiger5, you are an amazing friend and sister and I thank you both for your medical know-how and for your inspiration of Lydia Scott. Love you lots my darling. **

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 27

"You're not resting," Emily murmured sleepily as she watched her husband pace near the window. The shadows told her it was early morning, and his agitation told her he had something big on his mind.

He turned midstride and walked to the bed. He sat on the edge and gently stroked her hair.

"Did I wake you love? I'm sorry if I did."

She lifted her hand and carefully took his. He eased their joined hands into view and gently kissed the skin just below the tape holding her IV line in place.

"Are you still worried about the baby?" she pressed. She was concerned that his gaze slid away from hers as he shook his head. "Aaron." When he didn't look back at her, she squeezed his hand just a little, despite the pain it caused where the needle had penetrated her skin. He returned his gaze to her, but it was shuttered and she squashed a momentary spurt of fear that he was pulling away from her over what had happened. "Aaron, it's a two way street you know."

The shuttering in his eyes lasted another few seconds before it crumbled to reveal his weariness and he sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Emily, truly I am."

She lifted her free hand to stroke his cheek lightly. "I know you are, and it's alright up to a point. But I _need_ for you to keep me in the loop; both with how you're feeling about all of this and about what is going on externally. It doesn't matter how bad it is; I can take it all after what I've been through. But you shutting me out like that makes me wonder if maybe there's something wrong with what happened to me that you can't deal with."

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "There is _nothing_ wrong with you that I can't handle. Not how you see yourself after what _he_ did and not the physical side either. I'm not worried about the baby. I trust Martha's word that you were properly shielded during your x-rays and I trust what I saw on the ultrasound she ran after she'd completed the kit. I know the baby is a touch distressed but I also know that as you were resting last night, so too was the baby and that was good enough for me."

"Is it something with Jack that you didn't tell me?"

"No Em; I didn't lie to you about that. Jack is fine. There were no serious side effects for any of you that ingested that sedative. And before you ask, I checked on both Jack and the girls a short time ago while you were still sleeping and they're all fine. In fact, I'll call their wards shortly and get them brought here so that they can see you and you can see them."

"Okay, so what is it then, if it isn't me or the children, that has you pacing so aggressively?"

"Truth between us?"

"I'm counting on that always."

He nodded and looked down at their clasped hands. "Kevin pulled the information stored on the truck's GPS that will tell us where Doug picked you up. We'll then need one of you to lead us back to the compound from there. Marnie has flat out refused to do it, Carrie just burst into tears when asked, Kevin heard me ask Carrie and said he'd flatten me if I even _thought_ of asking Penelope to do it and clearly Jordan can't. That left you or Lydia. Unfortunately, her husband actually made me pause in the asking with just a look and even though she indicated a willingness to lead us in, she just as clearly hesitated when her husband turned that look on her."

"What does Lydia's husband do again? I know she told me but I can't remember."

"He's a Green Beret in the Army's Special Forces. They can be damn scary."

"Mmm, I know. I dated one briefly while I was in high school."

His smile when it slowly came was amused. "Em, you have to be at least 20 years of age to apply to become a green beret."

She rolled her eyes. "I know _that_. It was all part of my rebellious phase. I told him I was older than I was and I got away with it until mother found out three months later and threw the biggest fit. She marched right up to him and demanded to know what he thought he was doing messing around with a 16-year-old girl. The poor guy went red, then purple before becoming the whitest shade of white I've ever seen. My mother realised he didn't have a clue and told him to check id next time and left it at that for him. _I_ was grounded for the rest of the year, all eight months of it, and lost the best kisser I'd ever met to that date."

He laughed so hard he almost fell off the bed and she felt something tight inside ease up a bit. If she could still make him laugh like that, it definitely wasn't her he had any issues with. She waited through the laughter and watched him wipe tears from his face when he was down to the occasional chuckle.

"That's priceless. I can just see the look of outrage on your face as your mother confronted him and I can also see the look on her face."

"I wasn't too keen on being grounded, but the look on mother's face was definitely _almost_ worth it."

He chuckled a bit more before he settled again. "Okay, so what was I saying?"

"I'm almost too afraid to bring it up again. I only just lightened the heaviness in the atmosphere."

"Oh, that. Okay, so I think Lydia _might_ be out of the question, but then again, she looked like she actually wanted the chance to go back."

"Not surprising. She has a black belt in something or other and if she can convince her husband to back her up, I know she'd like to go back and get something in for the last few months of her life she's lost."

"You sound wistful."

She closed her eyes. As much as she needed to explain what she wanted in a way he would understand, she knew he didn't need his nose rubbed in what had been done to her. He was already in pain over _her_ pain; she really didn't want to add to it.

"He kidnapped us successfully in the end but made two attempts before that. I've been threatened by him multiple times and forced to leave my babies on a snow-covered ground in seriously cold temperatures. Then when he got me, he beat me up and he _violated_ me. So _hell_ yes I want to go back and reclaim some of what was taken from me. And don't even _think_ about telling me you haven't thought about revenge at _least_ once."

He sighed softly. "I wasn't going to deny it Em. It's what had me pacing so _aggressively_ by the window. How deep-seated my need is to go in with my team, break from protocol and cut off his penis with the dullest knife I can find. Because he _violated_ my most precious possession. And yes; I did say penis and I _did_ call you a possession. I figured you'd understand on both counts."

She couldn't keep her smile of pleasure from fully taking over her face. Being called a possession might have, on any other day, pissed her off royally. She was her own woman, fiercely independent despite being happily married and she was _no ones_ possession. But today, it totally worked for her. And looking at his face, she knew that he could see that she was okay with it...and that it would be the only time he ever referred to her in that way.

Thinking through what he'd said, she said cautiously, "Is there anything from stopping Mr Scott from coming with us if Lydia and I together lead you all in?"

His eyes narrowed on her face, but he shook his head. "No; nothing that I can think of. They want as many people as they can get for this raid because we just don't have enough information about the number of men and firearms we are going to meet. And because he's a Captain, he's definitely fully qualified to come in with us."

"How old is he? Lydia said she was only 28 and they were high school sweethearts."

"He's 29 or 30 I think. I know he said he was one of the youngest captains they've ever had in the program. He's just that good at everything he applies him to."

"Not surprising given his rank. Okay, so we lead them in and we make it our primary objective to find _him_. And if he gets hurt in the process, well, who's going to believe him when we're saying that's how we found him."

A throat cleared behind her and she tensed slightly, before she saw the easy way Aaron smiled.

"Hey Dave. Come to visit us with an update?"

"Yes. None too soon by the sounds of it. Remember; whatever you're planning, you have to live with your actions afterwards."

Emily shifted carefully onto her back, wincing as a couple of cracked ribs protested the movement.

"Dave, I have to live with what _he_ did to me _every day_ of the rest of my life. And what on earth makes you think I'd do something stupid that would ruin my career or see my children raised motherless because I'm in jail?"

"Humph," he muttered as he came closer and settled into the chair at her bedside. "I'm just going to leave that one alone. I'll focus instead on the reason for my visit. But first, how are you doing this morning?"

She shrugged slowly. "As well as can be expected I guess. I ache everywhere, but physically I'm fine except for a few fractured ribs and the usual assortment of bruises one collects when one has been beaten by a psychopathic monster."

He nodded slowly. "Dare I ask if there is a concern of STD's or pregnancy from what has been done to you?"

She turned her head back towards Aaron, telling him with her eyes that she trusted him to know what information to give out.

"What I say in the next minute is for you alone. You don't pass it on to the others in your rounds. Understood?"

"Of course. But with a warning like that, do I really want to know?"

Aaron shrugged and shifted his hold on her hands so that he could resume stroking her hair. "We have no idea about any threat of STD's, but she's being treated regardless just to be on the safe side and when we get our hands on the little piece of shit who violated her, they'll be taking blood to test for just about everything to see if we can rule that out."

Emily smiled dryly as she turned her head back to face Dave. "Can you tell he's just a little bit pissed over the whole thing?"

Dave returned her dry smile with one of his own as he shifted slightly. "Honey, that message came through to me loud and clear yesterday when I walked in on what I shouldn't have. Then, and now, I feel like I need something solid and strong to protect the parts of me that Teresa says she likes the best while chatting with your beloved husband."

Emily blinked, then blinked again as it registered what he'd said. As it fully sunk in, an image sprang to mind that brought a giggle bubbling to the surface. Spotting the uncomfortable look on Dave's face, that giggle turned into a roar of laughter.

Aaron shot Dave a look and mouthed a thank you. Dave tipped his head in acknowledgement and they waited for the laughter to peter out.

"Oh god, please don't do that again. That _hurt_."

"Sorry," Dave said quietly, though he wasn't too sure he was as he spotted how much easier she looked in his company. He hadn't much liked that slight edge of wariness she'd had in her eyes as she looked at him before.

She shot him a look that stated clearly that she saw right through him, so he grinned unrepentantly and shrugged nonchalantly.

"As to the other risk, it's non-existent."

Dave frowned. "If there are concerns about STD's, surely there are concerns about pregnancy."

Emily smiled happily. "Dave, darling, even you should know that it is impossible to impregnate a pregnant woman."

She started laughing anew at the startled look on his face and ended up curling into her side as the laughter turned to a groan of pain. But despite that hurt, she felt so much better and once the pain had again eased, she asked, "So how are the others?"

Dave smiled and settled more comfortably into his chair. "First off, congratulations to both of you. But isn't it a bit soon after the twins?"

Aaron shrugged. "We obviously weren't trying, but we're happy none the less. And she's only about three or four weeks pregnant; we wouldn't have even known for a while if it hadn't been for the blood tests they had after they were first taken."

"So you both _knew_ when Emily was taken the second time. Geez; no wonder you were so completely on edge while she was missing. You turn positively possessive and caveman when your woman is pregnant. That explains so much now that I know."

Emily snorted. "Please don't pick at my man. I've been talking with Teresa as well you know."

The faint colour that came to his cheeks as his eyes shifted away from her in embarrassment had her smiling again. "Dave?"

"Yes Emily?"

"Thanks."

His smile was full of understanding. "As many times as you need me to before it doesn't matter anymore. And if it always matters, then count on it for the rest of your life."

She turned her head away to hide her tears. Of all the team and all her friendships with them, outside of Aaron it had always been Dave she'd turned to and trusted with what was on her mind. Even more so than Derek; he was the one she'd been the most scared about facing. But his simple acceptance of where she was after all that had happened to her, and his easy way of ignoring her fears while he worked to put her at ease in his company had done what she hadn't thought possible; put her at ease in his company.

While she calmed her turbulent emotions, the guys chatted quietly about other things. Only once she'd settled back against the pillows did Dave get back to the reason he'd come to visit.

"Alright, so I just spent an hour with Teresa in Jack's room, cuddling your daughters and reading to Jack and Toby. All four children are fine, though your girls are obviously missing you and Aaron because they were fussy and not wanting to settle despite clearly being tired. All Jack can talk about is when he gets to come and see you, so if you can, try and arrange that soon to reassure him. Otherwise, he's been reassured that the staff here are taking good care of you and will wait if need be.

"Jordan made it through the night without a hitch and is slowly but steadily improving. Ben and Derek are comforting each other and they will know more tonight, but the general opinion is that Jordan will recover fully in time."

"That's good. I was really worried about her overall condition when we met up but then when she stopped breathing I think my heart just about sunk. They were not the most fun minutes of my life."

"Hmm, I don't blame you. Derek considers you his hero at the moment and is currently working on a way to adequately thank you. I did suggest that he just tell you with some flowers, but he looked at me like I was crazy so I just backed off the topic. He'll probably go overboard about it, but there's no doubt at all that he truly loves her so I'm inclined to leave that to the two of you to deal with."

"Thanks," Emily said dryly. He tipped his head to her and continued.

"Penelope is fine today, after spending half the night being constantly monitored. She'll need to follow up with her own GP, but she's been informed that she'll be fit to return to work in about a week. As you can probably imagine, Kevin is incredibly relieved by that fact.

"Carrie has four fractured ribs and a fractured hip. She also had some internal bleeding last night but that had slowed to a stop by the time she woke this morning. Toby has been completely reassured of her wellbeing and Carrie is completely relieved that Toby and Mirkal have bonded to each other so well. I asked Toby how he could be so sure that Mirkal wasn't like his father and the kid looked at me with eyes so old I completely froze for a second and said he just _knew_. Mirkal has already spoken to Alex Jackson about leaving the team and permanently relocating to Virginia. I somehow doubt that he'll be talked out of that plan."

Emily nodded thoughtfully and Dave continued. "Em, Carrie also indicated a desire to have you come see her if you're up to it. She's confined to bed for the moment while they stabilise her hip fully so she isn't going anywhere. But she wants to talk boys with you, no doubt getting your opinion on her relationship with Mirkal, and also to talk with you about what happened if you're willing. She indicated that she'd been there before and wanted to help you if at all possible."

Emily exchanged a look with Aaron. "We'd suspected she may have been raped sometime in the past by her husband, but we'd had no proof until just now," she admitted slowly.

Aaron smiled dryly. "You're just full of information you aren't supposed to have today, aren't you?"

Dave's smile was just as dry. "You kids have no idea how much Uncle Dave knows that he shouldn't."

"What about Lydia and Marnie?"

"Except for the beating she'd taken, Marnie was untouched physically by what had happened while she was in their hands and that is helping her deal with what she's been through. I met her parents briefly and they are a little rigid, but very supportive of her in her efforts to recover, so I'm pretty certain she'll be fine.

"Lydia has been looked over fully and has been given a physical clean bill of health. The psych is also very happy with her mental wellbeing. She'd been brought up in a good, strong family environment and with her husband had created another family environment that was just as strong. She's a confident young woman who has been deeply shaken by this event, but is already clawing her way out of the hole she'd been flung into by it. Her husband is behind her 100% and she's clearly taking comfort both from him and from her children. It will of course take time and she may always have to deal with it, but just like you, she's surrounded by people who won't let her falter and fall and she _will_ be alright given time."

Emily was relieved to hear that everyone was going to be alright. She liked the thought of speaking of what she'd been through with Carrie and getting the other woman's perspective and thought that maybe Lydia would also benefit in this way. She also wanted to see Jordan and Derek and get the 'thanks' part out of the way. She somehow doubted it would be that easy, but she resolved to at least try. And she'd go see Marnie and Penelope while she was at it.

They talked a bit more before Dave left to return to Teresa for breakfast. Silence returned to the room, broken only when Aaron started taking off his shoes.

"Wh...what are you doing?" she asked nervously.

He grinned at her. "I didn't sleep at all last night. I thought I'd just tuck myself in around your luscious self and catch a nap. Unless it bothers you in some way, in which case I'll try to sleep in this chair." He shot the chair a doubtful look before shooting her a game smile.

She found herself smiling reluctantly in response. "Fine, but you take full responsibility for any injuries you incur if I wake in a panic at being held."

He lifted his right hand and placed it over his heart as he put his left hand in the air beside his head. "I do so solemnly swear that I will take full responsibility for any reactions you may have while I am delighting in the feel of your body pressed up against mine."

She found herself giggling at his antics, but she reigned her reaction in enough to nod regally in acceptance of the terms. Of course, she figured he'd simply take off the shoes and remove his jacket. What she got was an eyeful as he stripped off his shoes, socks, jeans, jacket and long-sleeved shirt, leaving behind only his boxers and undershirt.

She moved over with her mouth dry and a sudden wild desire to strip him from the rest of his clothes. She doubted her nerves would stand for it, but she wondered too if she could handle something a bit lighter than that considering where they were. He shifted the covers out of the way and slipped in beside her. They moved carefully to avoid disturbing her IV but pretty soon she was tucked into his arms and some last bit of fear she had melted away as he set his gun within easy reach on the side table.

"I'm not so sure leaving it there is a good idea, but I'd be too worried about sending it flying if I placed it under the pillow."

She nodded wordlessly, too aware of the way his body had reacted to being pressed up against hers. There was none of the repulsiveness she thought there might be after what Malik had done to her and she felt a sudden surge of hope that their combined history and the memories she'd built with him would be enough to get her through this safely.

As she shifted slightly to look at him, she realised her look must have spoken volumes, because he said softly, "It's too soon. You should wait a bit before poking at your wounds."

She shook her head slightly. "Wouldn't it be better to poke the wounds now to see how much healing they may actually need? I mean, we might be surprised and find that it isn't as bad as everyone thinks."

"And if it's actually worse? Can you deal with that disappointment?"

"Knowing you aren't going anywhere and won't think less of me if that's the case? Yes, I can."

He watched her steadily for a long moment, before shifting closer and kissing her. One of his hands drifted down her arm until their hands became joined. He lifted them up to rest between their hearts as he feathered other, lighter kisses all over her face.

A door opening behind them brought his head up and a narrow look to his face.

"Come back later."

"Will do," she heard Derek murmur along with a soft apology for intruding.

Aaron didn't ask her if she was alright with continuing, though she probably would have said she was far too tense at that moment to continue. Yet he proved her wrong as he went back to his light and easy kisses; everywhere but her lips. In fact, he didn't return to her mouth until she whimpered slightly and shifted to collect his with hers. Then it was so easy it was comforting.

She let her eyes drift shut as sensations washed through her; delighting in the knowledge that she was enjoying herself with him and not struggling with any of the darker emotions she'd been expecting to feel.

Aaron pulled back with a small smile as he felt Emily relax fully underneath him. He'd thought she was far too tired for this and he hadn't been wrong as he took in the small smile on her lips as her breathing evened out.

Tucking her in as close to his heat as he could get her still slightly too cool body, he sent up a quick prayer that she wouldn't panic in his arms when she woke. He would completely understand if she did, but he wasn't so sure she'd be as alright with it as he would be.

He closed his eyes as he breathed her scent in, buried though it was under the antiseptic smell of the room and the different smells of soap and shampoo they'd used to clean her up yesterday. He fought again with the freight train carrying his emotions that wanted to run him down. She needed to rest; she didn't need to be woken up by his reaction to finally having her back safely in his arms.

In the end, his exhaustion helped him win that battle for another few hours and he drifted into a deep slumber.

**End-**

**A/N: I wasn't intending for that to be quite as long as it was, but there it is. I know everyone wants to go and attack the unsubs, but I'm eagerly awaiting the return of my inspiration for Lydia Scott so that I can properly write that chapter; so instead you get sweet fillers like this one while you wait. Have I got you intrigued yet? If so, stay tuned...it won't be long now.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: Exciting news...we are just one chapter away from seeing some truly bad guys get their comeuppance and I know there is one in particular we ALL want to see get what he deserves, and he totally will...but that's in the next chapter. This one will be mostly setting the scene for the raid, so bear with me just a little bit longer. The end is now in sight!**

**I have lots of reviews to be thankful for, particularly when they make me smile on my bad days (of which I do have a few every now and then). But today isn't one of them, despite sweltering heat, because I am indoors enjoying some lovely air-conditioning at work. Many, many thanks to HPforever-after (for ch's 25, 26 & 27), Hazmatt, melodic2686 (I appreciate greatly the encouragement particularly on the medical front since I did the x-ray research without my medical guru), HGRHfan35 (if I find a couple of Aaron's, I'll send one your way), greengirl82 and x-MJ-x (for the entirety of Going to the Chapel; you're slowly catching up girlfriend!). I love you all more than I can say. **

**Medical guru is back! Sweet sister Wtiger5, welcome back! You have been missed, but you are here now and we are getting closer to the entire reason for the existence of the amazing Lydia Scott. Love you heaps my darling and totally looking forward to kicking some bad-boy butt with you (but not in this chapter). **

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 28

Derek closed the door with a small, thoughtful smile. Dave had informed him of the attack on Emily and he'd kept an outwardly calm facade, but the second Dave had left, he'd found himself weeping almost uncontrollably; both for his wife and what she'd been through, and for his partner, who hadn't done _anything _to deserve that kind of treatment. And though he'd felt a touch better afterwards, he was still dealing with a deep-seated fury over all that had happened to them recently.

His intention had been to tell Emily how grateful he was for what she'd done for Jordan and though that plan had been pushed back some, he was quite happy to have it pushed back for the reason it had been.

"Hey, is she available?"

He turned from the closed door, his hand hovering over the gun at his hip as he took in the tall, solidly built and very muscled man in front of him. In fact, this stranger with the black hair and blue-green eyes was actually making him feel threatened. Even the act of lifting his hands slowly into view didn't make him feel any better.

"Easy there. My wife rescued yours from that place and I just wanted to see how she was doing because Lydia was asking after her. That's all."

"If you're talking about Emily, she's my close friend, not my wife. She actually saved my wife and I was intending to thank her but they're currently busy at the moment."

The other man nodded. "Alright then. I'll come back later, or I'll let Lydia come. Hell, maybe I'll just come with her," he added in a mutter.

Derek found amusement winding through him and let his hand ease away from his gun. "I'll bet you get that reaction a lot, huh man?"

"More than you know. Lydia says it's because I exude danger and tells me not to worry about it. But she finds my very dangerousness sexy so she really isn't the best judge of character. Everyone else just finds me scary, at least until they get to know me anyway. I'm Captain Cameron Scott, Army Green Beret."

"SSA Derek Morgan. I heard about Lydia and what she did for Emily. How is your wife?"

Cameron shrugged. "She says she's fine, and that she's simply happy to be back somewhere safe. Her doctor says she's fine physically despite being out overnight in freezing cold temperatures and barely dressed while pregnant. Her psych doctor is even happy with her mental health after her trauma. On my part, I think I'm just going to doubt everyone and their word and rely only on my senses like I always do."

"And what do your senses tell you?"

He sighed quietly. "That while she's relieved to be back with me, there is a lot she hasn't said."

"Man, of course there is. If she's anything like the other women, she spent most of yesterday sleeping and today is simply basking in the warmth of her newfound safety. I heard your children are here as well and of course she isn't going to talk in front of them. What she has to say is going to take time; she was in their hands for _months_. You'll just have to be satisfied with having her back for now; she's not being deliberately deceitful, but is instead being protective. It's a maternal instinct I see all the time in my line of work. Take the time offered now to simply enjoy her presence and prepare yourself for the storm cause when it comes, it's gonna hit hard and she's really going to need your strength."

Cameron nodded slowly and offered a hand. "You're right. Thank you for putting that into perspective; I think my fear had simply become so big that even now that she's back, I'm still struggling to beat it back down into submission. It would help if I could go beat something or someone up, but I dare not leave her for very long. I'm afraid she'll disappear on me again."

"If we were back in DC, I'd offer you the privilege of beating up on our training equipment, but we aren't so I don't know what to suggest. I guess all I can really say is just cling to the reminder that she's here and she's safe."

"Mmm, that definitely helps. Listen, I'm going to head back. It was nice meeting you."

"You too man."

New Section

Emily stayed close to Aaron's side as they stepped into Lydia's hospital room. Despite feeling well rested after sleeping for most of the day, her nerves were shockingly fragile. Spending some time with Martha that afternoon as the older woman checked her over had helped some, but not as much as she would have liked. She knew that the realistic outcome was that it would take time to heal all of her emotional wounds, but that didn't stop her from wishing that her healing would be faster than that.

Cameron looked her over, but did nothing more than nod to them both from his slouched stance in the chair on the far side of his wife's bed.

The other two chairs in the room were on the closer side of the room. Aaron helped Emily into one of the chairs, kissed the top of her head and then shifted his chair to sit on the other side of the bed. And while Emily would have preferred him staying plastered to her side, she understood that, just as Cameron has chosen to sit as far from her as he could comfortably sit without moving away from his wife so that she wouldn't feel threatened by his size, so too did Aaron give Lydia a clear escape to the door so that she wouldn't feel so completely surrounded by males.

For long seconds there was silence, then Lydia broke it.

"I want in."

Emily frowned slightly and looked at her husband as he leaned forward slightly in his chair.

"What do you mean Lydia?"

Lydia shifted against her pillows, lifting a leg under her blankets and wrapping her arms around it. "When you go in to take the compound. I want, no I _need_ to go in with you. I know Cameron doesn't want me to go because he's only just gotten me back and I'm almost five months pregnant with our third child. But I want in on this."

Emily sighed and lifted both her feet up to rest on the edge of her seat. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she rested her chin on her raised knees and shot Aaron a telling look.

He sighed and threw up his hands. He sat in silence for a moment before going to the door and shutting it firmly. Returning to his seat, he said quietly, "Agent Jackson is in charge of this raid because it is his case. He has indicated to me that he's concerned about my potential for violence should I go in on this raid and that he would prefer to have me stay behind. I stated that if Emily led the raid to the compound, I was going along. I then pointed out that if she stayed here then I would do the same for her peace of mind.

"He then asked my opinion on what I thought would happen if Lydia went in to lead the raid to the compound and I said the same thing would happen; it would just be different people going in."

Cameron nodded slowly. "I'm not generally a vindictive person, but for what has been done to Lydia, the woman I've loved since I first met her when she was 15, I would happily break every bone in Malik's body; slowly."

Lydia's look was loving, and somewhat approving as she held a hand out to him.

Aaron nodded understandingly. "Jackson has also indicated that he won't stop me from going in, despite knowing intuitively what I'll do if I can get my hands on the little shit. Sorry Lydia."

She smiled dryly. "Don't worry about it; I've thought worse."

"I think we all have," Cameron muttered as he cracked his knuckles. Aaron shifted in his chair to be as far away from the man as he could without actually looking like he'd moved and Emily smothered a giggle by burying her face in her raised knees. When she peered over them to see how Aaron reacted to her reaction, she found him smiling tenderly at her. She shot him a shy smile of her own and turned her attention back to Lydia.

"The other reason Alex is now hesitant to send me in is because we've informed him of my own pregnancy. But none of the other girls are in any better position; Marnie's refused, Penelope's pregnant and Jordan and Carrie are both too injured."

"Which leaves the two of us and our he-men husbands."

Emily nodded agreement as she fought with another giggle...and lost. The comment about he-men had been cute, but the guys reactions; their straightening in their chairs and puffing out their chests; had settled her enough to outright laugh. Of course, then Lydia turned to see what was so funny and when she lost it laughing, Emily joined her.

And both missed the solid handshake Cameron and Aaron exchanged as they nodded approval at each other.

Once everyone had calmed down again, Emily said softly, "I'm not on the clock and I want in on this. But if you can't handle protecting me while I do what I feel I _need_ to do, then now is a good time to speak up."

"And not to doubt Emily's memory recall, because I'm sure it's perfect, but she was carrying Jordan for a good long while there, so I'll volunteer for backup to her recollection."

The girls exchanged a long look that conveyed complete understanding of what they _both_ needed; a chance to reclaim what had been taken from them so brutally.

The guys also exchanged a look packed full of several long conversations into just a few short seconds.

"Well then, if you ladies are leading us to the compound, we'd best go in fully armed and ready for anything."

New Section

Emily had to keep reminding herself to breathe. Not the easiest thing in the world to do when she'd only just escaped the place she was currently approaching. And despite the fact that she was armed this time, it really wasn't any easier to handle. Having Aaron right behind her, and in fact close enough to be breathing down her neck, helped as well, particularly when she took into account the incredibly high powered rifle he was carrying in a sling across his back in addition to the Glock he held in his hands as they walked quietly along.

Adrenalin was a funny thing though, for what had seemed like several hours of running in terror for their lives was in actuality turning into about 45 minutes of steady walking and they could already see some distant lights winking through the heavy bush around them.

The plan was already in place. As soon as they reached the end of the path, Emily and Lydia were to make for the little hidey-hole they'd waited in shortly before leaving this place. Aaron and Cameron were tasked to stay with them. The entire force behind them would rapidly move into the compounds and out around the perimeter. Then, once they'd passed, the four of them were to head back out to the road and wait with the command centre that had been set up at a truck stop half a mile down the road where they'd found nine vans hidden in the bush; presumably belonging to their unsubs.

Behind them, the main force had been told to take everyone alive unless their lives were at stake; the men could then be put down if they couldn't be secured and the women locked in rooms unless the infiltrator felt threatened, in which case he could use reasonable force to knock her out and tie her up. Children weren't to be harmed at all, they were simply to be locked up in rooms until someone could come to deal with them.

Then, as soon as the compound was fully secured, the army of counsellors and other medical personnel called in to assist with this ambush would be led in to do what was needed to smooth everything out some and begin the mammoth task of getting the healing process started for the hundreds who had been affected by their ordeals.

And with luck, within a few days, they would have an idea of the why of this whole sorry mess.

Or at least, that was the plan.

The four of them had reworked their part of the plan to suit their needs. They would of course lead everyone into the compound before moving out of the way. But once the leaders had gone forward, Lydia was going to lead them to Malik's rooms, particularly the hiding places he favoured, until they found him. Then the plan was to goad him into attacking them, which Lydia didn't think would be all that hard since he'd probably take one look at them and then try to kill them for bringing this all down on top of him, and then it would be a matter of them defending themselves.

Whether or not he was alive when they were done was going to depend on whether the strongest voice of reason was strong enough to reign them all in when they started to go too far. But they figured they'd earned at least a little leeway.

Emily rounded a bend and came to a halt as her body started to shake. Aaron's free arm immediately wrapped around her shoulders as she turned into him to gain a little comfort from the security of his arms. She felt movement to her right and jerked in panic.

"Easy Emily."

She turned her head and saw Alex standing there, watching the opening. Beyond him, Lydia stood in the circle of Cameron's arms, looking just as unhappy to be there as she felt.

Two other men were just in front of them, using several high-powered technical scanners to check for nearby heat sources before they sent everyone out into the open. Once they'd withdrawn with two thumbs up for clearance, Alex turned to face her.

"Nice and fast, off the path and into that alcove I can see. We'll all be right behind you. Then you can get as far away from here as you like. Just grab a car and head back to the city. I'll radio it through as approved."

She swallowed hard, not wanting to show how tempted she was to take him up on his offer. "No, its alright. We'll stay nearby to find out that everyone's been taken in this raid and we know without a doubt that no one will be chasing us down."

Alex looked steadily at her and she could see in his eyes that he knew they had plans that differed greatly to his. But she knew that he agreed with their unspoken 'what you don't know won't do you any harm', because in the next instant he sighed quietly and nodded once.

Aaron gave her one last squeeze. "Last chance to change your mind."

She shook her head, exchanged a quick look and nod with Lydia, then they both took off running. They made it to the alcove intact and slipped inside to watch and wait. They weren't waiting long for everyone to pass them and disappear out of sight; they all knew what they were doing and despite coming from multiple agencies, cities and states, they all worked well together because the majority of the afternoon of the day before and then overnight and into this day had been spent in the planning and hashing out down to the finest detail of one of the biggest raids in US history.

As soon as Cameron, who had been placed in charge because he had the greater knowledge of working in remote, foreign terrains at night, deemed that it was safe to move, Lydia gestured him forward and followed close behind him, one hand on his waist to guide him. It was the only way he'd agreed to allow her out to do this. Emily followed close behind Lydia and Aaron brought up the rear.

Emily had figured Lydia would be the only one of them unarmed, but she had pulled out a couple of wicked looking, foot long blades with deadly sharp edges and strapped the sheathes to her forearms before pulling on her jacket. When she'd looked at Cameron, he'd smiled grimly and nodded; his wife was more than proficient in their use.

More than once, they froze and waited while the good guys gave them the all-clear after spotting them. They could be patient in this, because they had just one objective, whereas everyone around them had multiple tasks to perform.

They tried three of the places Lydia indicated without any success. They were trying the fourth one when something made Emily turn out from the room they were looking into. Her breath hissed in her throat, loud enough to bring the other three quickly to her side. Lydia whimpered as she pointed to a man moving carefully away from them as he tried to stay blended with the trees.

Aaron pulled both women back as Cameron pulled one of the many lethal little knives he had strapped in multiple places on his person. The other reason he was in charge had to do with the fact that in addition to the little knives, Cameron had a knife in a sheaf that ran the length of his spine and was securely strapped in place, three guns and a high-powered rifle similar to Aaron's; and he knew how to use every single piece with deadly accuracy and precision.

"I'm going to get him and bring him back here. Can we get out of this room once we close the door?"

Emily tried the handle and shook her head when it didn't budge. She moved to the side as Aaron pulled out his rifle and Lydia moved to her side but kept her eyes on her husband as he pulled his arm back and let the little knife fly. The knife impaled Malik's hand as it moved against a tree trunk and stuck it fast. Cameron darted out to get his target as Aaron brought the butt of the rifle down on the handle and broke it at the mechanism. When Emily tried it seconds later, the door swung open easily. They moved out of the way as Cameron hauled Malik through the door, then Emily pulled the door closed behind them as he dumped the other man into the centre of the room and backed away from him.

As a group, they stood in silence and watched the man cradle his hand against his body as he got his feet under him. Once he stood, he looked up to see them between him and the door and when Aaron and Cameron shifted out of the way, Lydia and Emily looked back at him steadily, trying not to show their fear.

But as Aaron and Cameron shifted their rifles into view, suddenly it was him showing them fear.

And the triumph of that was delicious as the girls eased forward and the men shifted in to guard their backs.

**End-**

**A/N: And we're there where we want to be. Stay tuned for more coming your way shortly.**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: Um...not too sure how this one will play out, so I'm just going to head straight on to thanking my reviewers.**

**Reviews are bread and butter when you write for no profit and you all certainly feed me well. Thanks to greengirl82, HGRHfan35, Hazmatt, HPforever-after, Wtiger5 (for chapters 25, 26, 27 & 28) and megameighteen. I hope this chapter has truly been worth your wait and your amazing encouragement. Love you all lots.**

**So this chapter is entirely inspired by Wtiger5's reaction to the chapter where Emily was harmed, and to only a slightly lesser extent by how the rest of you reacted. And the scene where we are primarily from Lydia's pov, her direct clash with Malik, is actually written by her totally amazing self.**

**And as to the beautiful, gorgeous, amazing Wtiger5; I just flat out love working with you. You're an amazing friend and sister and with you working with me on these, I've just seen them get even better than before. Thanks for being you and know that I'll love you forever. Mwah my darling.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**WARNING: This chapter is going to be heavier than all the ones before it (but I think you know why). It is also longer than I normally would write as I have decided to deal with their vengeance all in one hit. Please proceed with caution.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 29

All his life, he'd been raised as a prince among men; born to lead and to one day be the sheik in his fathers place. From the moment they'd arrived in this valley and started to build it up into the beautiful palace it was today, everything he'd ever wanted had been handed to him quickly, and he had been denied nothing that he'd ever asked for. He considered himself a smart man and had been told by many that he was filled with great wisdom and would lead them well when his father died.

Then that time had come and he had stepped up to the throne. And he'd made the changes that would allow him to have the family he'd always wanted. He went out into the world, selected his wives, and created his harem. It hadn't been easy, taking many years to smooth out the rough edges of the plans he'd set in motion. But finally everything had settled down into a rhythm, a daily routine they'd all become familiar and comfortable with.

And then Najeeb had come into his manhood; it was time for him to select his harem.

He knew he wasn't meant to have a favourite brother. His mother would be horrified to note that after he had been raised to consider none more special than the other, that he had somehow still come to consider Najeeb to hold a special place in his heart. So instead of sending his youngest, and most beloved, brother out with a team of the other guards as was always the custom, he himself had decided to go along and help him select the very best wives.

His first choice had been impeccable, a woman of exquisite beauty and spirit. His second choice had been outrageously daring, but clearly of even more importance to him than his first choice had been, so he had perhaps indulged Najeeb more than was wise. He should have insisted they knock the women out as they always did. In fact, he knew he should have listened to the little voice in his head that screamed at him that taking eight women all at once was an incredibly bad idea.

But he had discounted that voice due to his great love for his little brother.

And it had not gone well, right from the start. Najeeb had insisted that it was alright for them to talk softly among themselves. He hadn't wanted them any more traumatised than they already would have been from having been selected in the first place. That had allowed them to plan an escape; and escape they had, as soon as they were able, breaking his arm and Najeeb's nose in the process. And Najeeb, silly man that he was, fell head over heels in love with the woman who'd broken his nose. Then, had decided he _had_ to have her and went back again. When that had failed, resulting only in his arm being broken in a second place alongside the first break, he had tried to put his foot down. But he loved his little brother, and his little brother loved _her_.

So back for a third time, going in with the drugs they'd always used in the past. And _this time,_ they had finally been successful. But he'd had a dilemma; did he punish the woman who had first broken his arm, or did he punish the second woman to break it; the one Najeeb loved more than the others. He'd chosen the second woman, deciding he needed to come down hard on her so that she wouldn't be any trouble for Najeeb when he handed her over.

But he'd had trouble controlling himself from the moment he'd stripped her out of her clothes and he'd heard the first, and only, noise she'd made as he administered her beating in preparation for the Rite of Rebellion. From there, it had all been downhill. He hadn't thought about having her, it had simply happened; one moment he'd been beating her and the next he'd been sliding his aching flesh into her deliciously tight heat and he'd completely lost his head.

Najeeb's reaction to his petition to add her to his harem had been alarming and unpleasant. He'd never been denied anything, especially not by Najeeb who worshipped him, but his younger brother had shown a core of steel that had shocked him. But not only had Najeeb said an incredibly firm 'no' to him, he'd slapped him and called on the challenge before stalking off, leaving him with the distinct thought that no one woman was worth coming between him and his brother.

When he'd spotted mousy little Lydia watching him in fright, he'd been so tempted to take his anger out on her. But he knew if he left it too long, he'd have all sorts of trouble convincing Najeeb to drop the stupid challenge that would see them have to beat each other up until satisfaction was attained on the behalf of the victim. So he'd turned his back to her and gone to find his brother.

It had taken them several hours to hash it out, and had included Najeeb's insistence that he get down on his knees before the woman and apologise for his violation of her. He'd argued that one point determinedly, but in the end, Najeeb had said it was that or the challenge. He'd then indicated that he wanted it done at that moment, when he himself would have happily waited until the sting of it all had faded some. But if he'd done that, he wouldn't have discovered his woman's treachery so quickly.

For they'd arrived at the woman's room to find she wasn't there. And his first thought had been for the little mouse in the next room. But she hadn't been there either. And when they'd searched the entire palace, they had found that there were six women missing and none of the perimeter alarms had been tripped. But it was just as clear that the women weren't within the confines of the palaces' territory so they'd loosed the dogs and discovered that they had taken the one path designed to take them straight to the highway; somehow avoiding detection.

But they had been too late to catch them and the decision had been made to follow the truck until he dropped off his load and they could get to them just long enough to do away with them before they could talk. Only they'd come too close to the truck and they'd been spotted, causing the women to change whatever plans they may have had to leave the truck earlier and allowing them to make it to safety. They'd been forced to retreat under fire, but had managed to lose their tail with some help, and they'd figured they had enough time to pack up and move before the enemy invaded while the women recuperated.

Yet now he knew they'd taken too long. He'd been intent on slipping away, figuring that if he was free, he could later come back to rescue his brothers. He'd been shocked when the knife just suddenly appeared in the centre of the back of his hand as he'd slipped around a tree and just as surprised when the man had as suddenly appeared, pulled it out and hauled him along behind him like he weighed nothing and was worth even less.

When he was a sheik.

When he'd gotten his feet under him to stand, he'd seen those two tall men and recognised only one of them. But that one man's presence had settled a dread in his belly that he'd hidden behind a sneering smile that cowed most men. And when they'd moved aside from the door, he figured he'd won.

The little mouse stood between him and the door, the blades she held in her hands almost casually gleaming in the faint light coming from a window high up the wall. And the dread had been replaced by fear as he realised she wasn't alone; the woman who had almost completely come between him and Najeeb stood with her.

And neither of them had looked anything less than pissed off.

But he was a sheik, a king among men, and he was cowed by no one, least of all by two _women_ he'd already had...and fully intended to have again while he killed them...slowly.

New Section

Lydia had loved the powerful feeling that swept through her as he'd looked at them with fear. But then she'd started doubting herself as his fear had been replaced with a mixture of contempt and hunger. She'd just known that he was thinking about having them again and killing them while he was at it and that had really angered her.

She'd been surprised into submission once before by this man and she'd vowed in the hospital, held within Cameron's safe embrace once again, that it would _never_ happen again. Yet if the look in his eyes was anything to go by, he disagreed with her silent vow and would do everything in his power to get her under him one last time.

As she watched him pull something out of his boots, she shored up her doubts and tucked away her fears.

_Now it's my turn..._

She just knew he was going to try her and as he straightened slowly, she readied herself for whatever he had to throw at her.

His dark eyes glittered at her as she dropped into a fighter's stance, both blades held easily in her hand, and she held his gaze as he sneered at her. Holding her head high, she refused to give in to the fear she felt scrambling in the back of her mind.

"You can _do_ this; he has no power over you anymore," she told herself softly.

"Little mouse, let's see how loud you squeak _this_ time when I return you to your rightful place, flat on your back and beneath my feet."

Malik lunged as his words trailed off, forcing Lydia to bring up both blades as he bore down on her. She stumbled back slightly, not expecting the powerful blow, especially with his wounded hand.

_Idiot! You forgot the first rule of a fight; __**never**__ underestimate your enemy_.

She kept her eyes on the wicked blade the man held out in front of him. He feinted left, trying to get her to follow him, but she held her ground and ducked under his next swing. Her left hand flicked, the blade striking like the bite of a cobra. A thin line of red blood welled along his side and he snickered as he glanced at the shallow wound.

"Is that all you can do little mouse?"

Lydia ignored the taunt as she continued to circle her nemesis. Malik swung again, faster this time, and she barely danced back out of range, just catching the edge of his blade with her own. She countered with a thrust of her own that he easily avoided.

_Settle down Lydia, you've fought his kind before. Be patient and he will come to you._

Deciding to go on the offensive, she shifted her weight to her back foot and reversed her hold on her right knife so that the blade could lie flat against her forearm. The other she kept tip forward, towards Malik.

"Even a mouse can frighten the elephant," she remarked wolfishly. "And your reign of terror has lasted long enough."

Three blades clanged as she charged him, putting all of her weight behind each strike. The knife in her right hand glinted in the moonlight as it flashed twice, each time causing another small cut.

Enraged, Malik growled softly. This woman was making a fool of him. It was time she learned her lesson. He paused, pulling back, hoping she would follow his movements. A faint smile touched his lips as she circled closer and he suddenly lashed out with his foot, catching the inside of her left wrist.

Lydia yelped as she lost her grip on her knife and it spun out of sight into the corner. Malik used the distraction to his advantage and backhanded her across the face. She fell to one knee as she shook her head to try and clear it. She sensed rather than saw his foot swinging towards her abdomen and crossed her arms into an "x", blocking the kick. Ironically, instead of demoralizing her as Malik had obviously intended the move to do, the pain pushed back her fear and she rolled to her feet, her lips set in a hard line and her green eyes blazing. Judging her distance carefully, she kicked out with her left foot in the same manoeuvre that had caused her to lose her own knife, smiling in satisfaction as she made hard contact with his forearm. Reversing her momentum, she slammed her heel into his body.

Malik grunted as the air left his lungs, but unfortunately he didn't lose his hold on his weapon. He staggered back slightly and she pressed her advantage. Her blade danced out in a beautiful but deadly dance, scoring three more cuts to his torso; however, he recovered faster than she had expected and as she moved back out of range, he caught her right arm with his blade. The wound burned like fire and tears sprang to her eyes. Malik's eyes darkened at the sight of her blood and his lips curled into a sadistic smile.

"It's time to end this little charade mouse." He flipped his knife in a wide arc, sweeping it towards her head. Lydia reacted without thinking, bringing her own knife up to meet his. She quickly realized that with her wound, she couldn't hold him back. Disengaging, she leapt back to catch her breath. She didn't have much time as Malik followed her path. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cameron's hand move toward the hilt of his sword. She shook her head at him even as the blade materialized in his grasp, and returned her focus to the man in front of her.

_Mouse am I? Let's see how he likes this._

With a deep breath, she tried the trick that had won her three medals in knife and sword fighting. She flipped her blade up in the air, spun underneath it, and caught it in her left hand. She ducked under Malik's outstretched arm, pivoted on the balls of her feet and caught him diagonally across the chest. Her momentum carried her forwards and she levelled her forearm into his throat. He dropped with a strangled gasp, his blade falling to the ground and his hands flying to his windpipe.

"I am not your little mouse," she hissed as she backed away from him.

Then, as the rush of adrenaline faded, she dropped to the ground, exhausted both mentally and physically. She closed her eyes against the threatening nausea she could feel and listened to the calm authority Aaron wielded as he spoke to Cameron about her care.

New Section

Emily pulled her eyes away from the massive blade Cameron had pulled seemingly out of nowhere as Aaron ordered him to put it away and tend to his wife.

That put her gaze squarely on Malik, who lay gasping for breath on the ground, bleeding from his six cuts and attempting to recover from the solid blow Lydia had dealt at the last moment to his throat. Her new friend had just finished getting her own back for her months of torture; now it was her turn.

She stepped forward slowly, assessing with every sweep of her gaze. Aaron would label her a million times foolish if she'd survived this far only to meet her end through something she missed noticing.

He was fully disarmed, of that she was sure, particularly since Cameron had finished very thoroughly but roughly frisking him. She didn't think for a second that he was anything more than just winded, but he _was_ wounded. And wounded alpha males could be particularly aggressive when threatened.

She stopped just out of his reach and just stared at him. She knew what she was going to do and she also knew that Aaron wouldn't like it at all. She would definitely be hearing about it later, and probably at volume. She thought briefly about avoiding that, because she was sure she couldn't stand to have him mad at her. But in the end, her decision had been made long before they'd left the hospital and she was resolved to carry it out.

She just needed the boys to restrain him first.

She took a large step back and turned her head to see that the other three just watched her now, waiting to see what she would do. She made a slight gesture with her head and they came forward.

"I don't trust him enough to get close enough for what I want. Can you guys restrain him for me?"

"What are you intending to do to him?" Lydia asked with interest.

She smiled slowly. "Give him back a little taste of what I've been through over the last week."

She waited patiently while they got into position. Cameron took the man's legs, because he refused to give up all his weapons, and a moment's distraction could see Malik getting his hands on a knife they didn't need him having access to. Aaron pinned the man's wrists, seeming not to care that he might be causing bruises with his grip and the way he utilised it. Lydia held his two guns for him.

When they were ready, she walked back to Malik's side and crouched down as she pulled out her gun.

"Do you know, I've never met a situation before in my life that has left me with such a lingering sense of fear and self-loathing as meeting you has done. You aren't a man; you're a monster, and the worst kind too. You think it's your right and privilege to beat and rape women and you enjoy the thrill it gives you. You get off on women's pain and suffering and you expect respect and deference in return, thinking that nothing you're doing is wrong.

"But it is wrong, and because I don't think life in jail, or even a court ordered execution is enough for me, I'm going to get a little back first."

She shifted the hand with the gun in it, until his eyes were on it. She hated the steady, calm look in his eyes, but she squashed down the irrational urge to just shoot him now. She wouldn't become completely like him.

"I've been through a lot over the last week, and almost none of it good. My only consolation, as it was Lydia's, is that there is no way you could have gotten us pregnant; our husbands saw to that before you took us. But for the rest, I _will_ take it back."

He opened his mouth, and she was glad that he issued his challenge in his native language.

"With passion and fire like yours, you need a real man with a strong hand to guide and lead you. He is _nothing_ compared to me."

She smiled coldly and replied in kind. "Luckily for me, he is _everything_ compared to you. And we'll see who really has the stronger will."

She slipped back into English as she let the safety off. "Like I said, it's been a long week, and I've had almost as long to count the ways in which you violated me. My gun is a Glock 19, capable of carrying fifteen bullets when full. I removed a bullet from this gun for all of the major ways you violated me, but I truly don't recall how many there were because I kept adding to this list. I know there is at _least_ one bullet left of the fifteen; I just don't know where it starts, or even if I put it back together in the right place. But I do propose we find out."

She shifted the gun and placed the barrel against his forehead as a calm, white static settled over her. She slipped into her protective compartment and watched him for any change at all. Immediately, she noticed that he had begun to sweat despite the cold, and his breathing had hitched just slightly as the cold metal touched his bare skin.

_Oh goody...now we'll see how he likes it._

"Violation number one; you put a knife to Penelope's stomach and threatened her child if we didn't cooperate. That showed me immediately that you had no honour, and no respect for the innocence of young life. Well, I suppose you could say that it wasn't a direct violation on my person, but since Penelope is one of my best friends and is considered, as far as I am concerned, to be a sister I never had growing up, you may as well have violated me."

The click of the gun as the trigger was pulled was loud in the sudden silence. Emily felt a deep satisfaction as he flinched slightly at the sound. She ignored the slightly nervous looks she was getting from the men on either side of her. Shifting the gun to sit it over his heart, she continued.

"Violation number two; you took us with the intention of forcing us to become wives to a man when almost all of us were already married. You frightened all of us with your cold manner and the knife you waved so confidently around and you took us far away from the world we know."

Another click brought another flinch and a slight indrawn breath from Aaron that she ignored. He didn't say anything though and she was grateful for that, but she also knew she'd be hearing about it much later. She shifted the gun to the other side of his chest.

"Would you like to drown in your own blood? Violation number three; when Austin started bleeding, I know you were thinking you should just dump her somewhere and leave her there to bleed to death. Another almost-sister and friend, another violation that might as well have been. But then you added insult to injury when you tried to keep us with you after we stopped, causing additional panic."

This time, the click made him close his eyes briefly as he flinched.

_Good; this is going to be enough after all._

"Do you know that your spleen is under the barrel now, and that you can bleed to death from a wound here? Perhaps we should see how long it would take you?

"Violation number four; you came back a second time, just when we were beginning to feel secure with our partners again."

His body jerked as he attempted to dislodge Aaron. Emily waited while her husband resettled his grip before she placed the barrel over his intestines.

"I think, for this one, I'd actually be content to put the hole through your intestines, get some lovely dirt in there and then wait for the infection to set in before I actually consider getting you some help; all just to watch you suffer.

"Violation number five, and be aware that I actually consider this to be your worst violation yet. Number five; you put a gun to the top of my daughters head..."

"He did what?"

Aaron's shout of outrage was almost completely drowned out by a scream from Malik and since he was screaming, Emily let the soft click of the gun be lost in that sound. She'd let Aaron have that one.

She waited until the screaming dropped to a couple of whimpers followed by silence. Tipping her head slightly to the side, she regarded the man at Malik's head. Aaron just stared back at her calmly. Looking at his hands where they held their prisoner competently, she noticed the twisted angle of Malik's good wrist and nodded once.

Shifting her gaze back to Malik, she smiled coldly. "I'll let Aaron have number five. Violation number six; you drugged us and came back a third time. I might have let that go since we'd already figured out that you're a persistent lot, but my son tried the tea you drugged and could have been killed. So maybe I'll just put a hole in your intestines for that, shall I?"

The click caused him to writhe slightly in an attempt to break free. She ignored that as she put the gun over his manhood, causing him to freeze into utter stillness as she ground the barrel in just slightly. His eyes went huge and he seemed to stop breathing as he begged her both with his eyes and in his native language to stop this.

After nearly a minute, she lifted a hand and he stopped speaking abruptly.

"It's very sweet of you to offer to get down on your knees and apologise for your actions. But that won't satisfy my needs, so we'll continue.

"Violation number seven; you beat me up. Well, I guess you couldn't do anything different since I re-injured your broken wrist. But you didn't just beat me up; you put this," she ground the barrel down harder and he let out a little shriek before she eased up slightly on the pressure," in my body."

She ignored the opening door behind her, and Aaron's snarled, "Get out!" to whoever had tried coming in. She heard the door close and saw by Aaron's face that whoever it was had decided to stand on the inside. She just hoped that they didn't interfere.

"You put it where only my husband is allowed entrance and not only did you do that, but you were so forceful that you broke something inside me just a little bit."

She pressed down again harder still and let him see in her eyes that this had been her plan all along. Harder and harder she pressed as he began to thrash and scream for help and only when the strong smell of urine mixed with dung filled the air did she pull the trigger.

The rapport of the gun was thunderous in the small room, louder even than his panicked screams. She stood up as she clicked the safety back on and turned the gun around. Holding it out to Aaron, she gestured that they could let him go and they did, slowly, allowing him to curl up on his side as he continued to scream.

She turned towards the door and saw the cautious approval in Lydia's eyes, and the straight out caution in Alex's as he eased the door open slightly and slipped back out of the room.

Lydia held out her arms and the two women embraced as Cameron straightened from his inspection of the broken man on the ground before him.

"I demand no more recompense for Lydia's sufferance at Malik's hands. My demands have been more than adequately met." His eyes met and locked with Emily's for a moment, then he bowed deeply in respect before walking to Lydia and embracing her.

Aaron looked at them all cautiously for several long moments before approaching the broken man's body. Several long minutes passed before he too stood and turned to face them. The admiration on his face was easy to see.

"Agreed; my demands are satisfied."

Emily inclined her head and led them out of the room, allowing Alex to move in with a couple of men at his back to capture the last of their prisoners. All that was left now was to hear their reasoning for their actions.

_This had better be good._

**End-**

**A/N: Whoa...that took on a bit of a life of its own, but re-reading it for editing purposes, I'm happy to leave it as it is. **

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Sorry about the gap in posting after all my promises...I temporarily lost my mojo. But it's back and here I am.**

**Oh, my goodness. Almost at the end and I've gotten so many wonderful reviews from all of you that I'm feeling a touch overwhelmed and incredibly humbled that you would all still be with me after all I've put everyone through. My thanks are never-ending and though it is hard to put into words how truly grateful I am, I hope you can all just feel it. Thanks to Wtiger5 (love you so much sis), megameighteen, HGRHfan35, Hazmatt, miaa29, NicknHotchfan, greengirl82, melodic2686 and HPforever-after. You guys are amazing and I really hope to see you still with me as I press on forward.**

**Wtiger5, my sister and my friend; I just love you so much, that working with you has been such a wonderful added bonus. I can't wait to delve into the realms of the next story with you on my side. Lots of hugs and kisses my darling.**

**Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben. **

Arabian Nights – Chapter 30

"We've been discussing things, and the verdict has been decided."

Emily thought about opening her eyes to see who Penelope was addressing, but that just seemed like too much effort for her peace of mind so she left them closed and continued to idly stroke Chloe's back. She lay flat on her back on the floor in the living room, completely comfortable and content with Chloe snuggled in against her warmth. India was somewhere else in the room, but she was far too sleepy to remember who held her youngest.

In the week since the raid, so much had happened that her head was still spinning, even though the day had been the quietest she'd had for a long time.

She had walked away from the raid with a feeling of complete calm. The suspicions of everyone around her that she'd shot a man in cold blood had turned into shock at the realisation that the only blood Malik was losing was that which Lydia had drawn with her knives. That for all her 'torture', she hadn't physically harmed him. Her explanation, that all she'd wanted was to force him to feel even a tenth of the fear he'd made her feel, and that she'd accomplished that without bloodshed, had seen everyone staring at her as she'd left the raid with her head held high.

Malik had been incoherent in his shock, but Najeeb and his brothers had more than made up for their older brother. Their explanation of their parents coming to America for a new life and setting up as they had after somehow avoiding all authorities had left a sour taste in everyone's mouths. Yet the knowledge of the why behind all that had happened to them had somehow eased some anxiety they had and the additional knowledge that everyone behind it was in custody and facing life imprisonment had taken away a lot of the fear.

Returning to the hospital, they'd found all the women gathered in Carrie's room and waiting for any news of the raid. Aaron and Cameron had been shooed off and Lydia had helped her explain what they'd done. The only emotions among the ladies had been approval and support and it had been hours of talking about all that they'd been through before they chose to disperse to find their beds.

The next five days had been filled with police interviews, doctors' appointments, counselling sessions and group discussions with the other women who had been rescued. Some of them had come out like Lydia, scarred but refusing to stop fighting to return to the lives they'd once had. Most had an incredibly hard, uphill battle in front of them and they didn't even realise it. And their families were left struggling to come to terms with the changes they were finding in the women they loved.

But that wasn't something she needed to deal with. Upon their return to Virginia, they had immediately arranged necessary counselling sessions, both individual and group for the ladies. Because they all agreed that it wasn't going to be something they would just get over. And early that morning, she had phoned the gp service that got her through her first pregnancy so that she could make an appointment to see one of the other doctors. Whether she stayed with them would remain to be seen.

Mirkal's decision to leave California and his team to move to Virginia hadn't surprised any of Carrie's friends. On the other hand, the California team had been shocked to hear that Mirkal was leaving them, and the perpetual sunshine of the coast, to move clear across the country to be with the woman he'd never stopped loving. He'd decided that the snow and the cold that came with it were worth braving because the woman herself was worth everything to him.

Carrie had been apologetic all week; so much so that Aaron had threatened to fire her if she didn't stop apologising for being out of action while her hip healed. Mirkal's arrival at lunchtime had thankfully distracted her and the surprise for her, that he would be staying with them until he could find an apartment nearby, had brought her such joy that they'd all been smiling as she hugged him.

And now, after a full afternoon of cooking and companionship, they were all draped across the large living area, full of amazing food that they'd all contributed to and content for the first time in weeks.

Aaron turned his head to view his team's technical analyst where she was sitting comfortably in front of Kevin, leaning back against him where he sat on the floor against the wall. They'd all tried to get her to sit on the couch, but she'd admitted that she was going through a phase where the floor was by far the most comfortable spot for her. Having Emily back her up, stating that she'd been in the same place before, had stopped all arguments and she got to sit where she willed.

Realising that she was looking at him, he smiled lazily. "What verdict would that be Garcia?"

She smiled like the cat that had found the cream. "We all think Superwoman's pregnant again."

Aaron raised an eyebrow and turned his head slightly to view Dave. The older man held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. He turned his head again to view their newest guests. The discovery that Lydia and Cameron lived half an hour away from them had delighted all of them and when they'd decided to have this get-together to celebrate that they were all alive and if not well, at least getting better, it had been an easy decision for all of them to invite Lydia, Cameron and their children to join them.

Lydia shook her head and yawned hugely as Cameron idly stroked her belly. "I swear I didn't say anything to anyone."

Aaron looked around the room and found everyone who was awake looking at him. The exclusions were the kids, all curled up together on a mattress to the side of the room, and Emily, who was now clearly asleep where she lay on the floor with Chloe resting in the centre of her torso.

He grinned and shrugged but said nothing as his eyes slipped back to his wife. He was entirely relieved that he was still on medical leave and able to be with her 24/7; being apart from her, even for a few minutes at a time was difficult. He was far too aware of how close he'd come to losing her forever, and was desperately trying to make up for all the lost time they'd had this year. He wasn't intending to take her presence in his life for granted ever again.

"Was that a yes Hotch?"

He took in the eagerness on her features and couldn't help being amused. Penelope had a thirst for knowledge that few could rival and though you couldn't _exactly_ call it gossip, she did like to chat about what she knew, though she was very careful to make sure she was only telling people she could trust.

It was _very_ entertaining.

"Maybe it would be better to ask the ladies to put their hand up if they _aren't_ pregnant. It would get you a quicker answer."

Penelope beamed at him. "Good point. Right ladies; put your hand up if you aren't carrying a BAU baby."

Kelly, Carrie and Jordan put their hands up, though Jordan frowned as she did so.

"You know, this isn't an accurate way to tell if the Hotchners are in the family way again, since Emily is asleep."

This got Penelope frowning as well as Kelly looked across the room. "I don't know about anyone else, but I think I'm more interested in seeing that Teresa _doesn't_ have her hand up."

Everyone turned to Teresa who shrugged and smiled shyly. "Well, I _could_ put my hand up, but that would be lying and I really don't like lying; so I won't put my hand up."

Everyone turned to congratulate Teresa and Dave as Aaron turned to look at Kelly. Having already known of Teresa's pregnancy and having already congratulated his friends', he didn't join in on the salutations. Instead, he mouthed a 'thank you' in her direction and Kelly inclined her head. Then she raised an eyebrow in inquiry, and he inclined his head in return with a small smile. She mouthed 'congratulations' before turning to join everyone else in profuse congratulations of Teresa and Dave's news.

The distraction lasted only two minutes, but Emily had woken in that time and was slowly standing as everyone turned to look at her. She looked sleepily at everyone, then turned and walked out of the room.

"Was she even awake?" Brad asked softly.

"Barely. She'll put Chloe in her crib and then she'll go to bed, not remembering that we still have guests. And with her sleep so haunted by her nightmares, I'm not about to wake her up when she's resting peacefully to play hostess.

"And since you were all so wonderfully quiet, which allowed her to leave so she can enjoy her sleep while it is still restful, I will confirm that yes; Emily is pregnant again."

Everyone cheered softly and congratulated him too. The questions of the how of it so soon after the twins were born was just petering out when Penelope yawned so hugely they all heard her jaw crack.

"Ouch; that hurt. Right, I think it's time for this pregnant mamma to head to bed."

Kevin agreed wholeheartedly and just like that the night had broken up. Aaron saw everyone out with the exception of the Scott's before returning to the mattress in the living room which Carrie, Mirkal, Lydia and Cameron stood staring down at. He sighed softly as he saw the dilemma.

Not a single child was completely untangled from the child beside him or her. Six year old Arianna Scott was completely wrapped around Jack, and vice versa. One of Jack's legs was also mixed up with Toby's arms and eight year old Gavin Scott had somehow ended up with his head on Toby's lower back, since the younger boy was on his stomach, and his legs tangled with both his sister's and with Jack's.

"Look's like somebody's got a girlfriend," Mirkal said with a gesture to the way Jack and Arianna were wrapped around each other.

Cameron smiled slightly. "Damn, and it's too early in Jack's life for me to be getting out the shotgun."

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Do you know, depending on how long this lasts, this relationship is either going to entirely entertain everyone, or else it is going to put us at loggerheads as we threaten each others children with certain pain if they hurt the other."

Cameron grinned suddenly. "Maybe we should let our wives do the threatening for now and see how long it all lasts before we get in on the act."

"Done."

Aaron fished out his phone and took a couple of pictures, knowing Emily would want to see. Then Carrie moved her hand, showing that she had the camera the whole house used for opportunities just like this one, and that it was on. She showed him the last shot and he grinned in delight.

"Can we get a copy of that?" Lydia asked softly.

"Of course," Carrie said with a warm smile. She looked back at the children and shook her head slightly. "We have two options, the way I see it," she added, amusement clear in her voice as she leaned all her weight on a very willing Mirkal. "We can either wake them up to move them, or we can let them sleep where they are."

Aaron nodded slowly. "Good point Carrie." He turned to Lydia and Cameron. "You would both be more than welcome here tonight. The spare room is incredibly comfy as well as roomy and we could probably find clean clothing for you for the morning."

Lydia was almost asleep standing up so Cameron nodded. "I think that this would be best. Lydia isn't allowed to lift anything heavy and I can't move both children at the same time without leaving someone in the cold of the car when we get home unless I wake them and I'd really rather not if I can avoid it. Could we leave a note telling the children where we are in case they wake before us?"

Aaron readily agreed and this was penned quickly as Mirkal retrieved a couple of blankets at Carrie's instruction. The blankets were wrapped around them, the note placed where they would easily see it and they left the living room, turning out the main light and leaving only a small lamp on across the room. After deciding to leave the heating on in the downstairs room, Aaron led the way upstairs, left Lydia and Cameron in the spare room and bade everyone goodnight.

Entering the bedroom, he smiled to see Emily sprawled out across the bed. He was tempted to leave her to it and sleep on the floor until she woke and demanded he join her, but decided sleeping without her was too much effort, even if it meant waking her briefly to move her over. Yet, after showering and changing into sweats, he returned to the bedroom to find her sitting up and looking around blearily.

"Aaron? Where were you?"

"Just in the bathroom love. You're safe and I'm here, I promise."

She nodded and lay back down, shivering slightly in the cooler air of the room. He walked to the panel by the door to adjust the heating before returning to the bed and wrapping his body around her own. She snuggled into him and murmured something unintelligible. He soothed her back into sleep and closed his eyes.

He was home and she was here in his arms and she was safe. Jack was sound asleep downstairs and the girls had been tucked into their cribs. And for tonight, that was all that was important to him as sleep pulled him under and the house settled down to dream.

**End-**

**A/N: FINALLY FINISHED! YAY!**

**I wonder who else is sitting there and thinking, "Finally, she's finished it!"? I'll be the first to put my hand up. **

**So Arabian Nights has drawn to a close and I think I answered all unanswered questions, but if I did miss any, I'm really sorry. Just mention the questions to me and I'll do my best to answer them for you.**

**As to NPH, it is far from finished. I've already got the next piece in mind and though I can't wait to get to it, I feel that I need to devote some attention in other directions for a short time. So watch this space; I WILL be back!**

**Please review with the conveniently placed link right under these words. I love to know what you think and it makes me type faster and update quicker. **


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